Purchasing Medicines on the Internet

Updated March 28, 2024

Is ordering medicines online safe for you and your family? Today, you can order just about anything online and have it delivered to your doorstep. The internet makes it easy to shop around for the lowest priced item. So, searching for low cost medicines online is no exception. However, there are some dangers with purchasing medicines online. For example, internet pharmacy sites that say, “no prescription needed,” should not be used.

Also, some medicines sold online:

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) in the United States provides accreditation to online pharmacies that meet certain criteria. This three-year accreditation is given to pharmacies that have a website offering at least one digital pharmacy practice (e.g., new prescription orders, refills, transfers, counseling/medication therapy management [MTM], patient/prescriber portals, and pharmacy care services). This accreditation ensures the online pharmacy is committed to providing quality healthcare and safe pharmacy services to customers via the internet. If an online pharmacy has received this NABP Digital Pharmacy Accreditation status, their website(s) will have a “.pharmacy” domain web address. To find out if an online pharmacy is accredited by NABP, vis the Accredited Digital Pharmacies webpage.

Before ordering any medicine online, be sure you understand the following Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

What are the risks of purchasing from a non-accredited or fake online pharmacy?

What are some of the warning signs of a fake online pharmacy? Avoid online pharmacies that:

What are some tips to identify safe online pharmacies? To identify a safe online pharmacy, make sure that the online pharmacy:

Is it okay to buy prescription medicine online from other countries?

Why are consumers increasingly turning to online pharmacies for their medicines?

Here's what you can do:


Before you place an order from an online pharmacy, make sure the pharmacy you are using is certified by the NABP Digital Pharmacy Accreditation. Look for the “.pharmacy” in the website’s address domain. You can also access NABP's Accredited Digital Pharmacy website to search for an NABP-accredited digital pharmacy to meet your needs. Lastly, if you believe an online pharmacy is operating suspiciously, please report it to NABP by completing and submitting the “Report a Site” online form. To summarize, in addition to checking NABP to determine if an online pharmacy is in good standing: