of the top 10 products often prescribed’’ in the United States in 2007. The five drugs ‘‘most selected for purchase were (in order of selection priority): Lipitor® 10mg (atorvastatin calcium) a synthetic agent to reduce cholesterol, manufactured by Pfizer; Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) an oral therapy for erectile dysfunction, manufactured by Pfizer; Celebrex® 200mg (celecoxib) a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug for treatment of arthritis, manufactured by Pfizer; Nexium® 40mg (esomeprazole magnesium) a proton pump inhibitor for treatment of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, manufactured by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP; and Zoloft® 100mg (sertraline HCl) a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor for treatment of depression, manufactured by Pfizer. The dosages chosen were the most popular among identified websites and after consultation with Joseph Moody, MD, the physician advising this study. With the approval of his state health board, Dr. Moody provided prescriptions for the drugs. During the procurement process, we always instructed website pharmacies to provide brand-name drugs, and did not procure from websites where only generic versions were available. Once the most popular dosages were identified, reference standards were established for the chosen handheld Raman spectrometer. The spectrometer created a detailed spectral for each reference ‘‘fingerprint’’ standard, which was then compared against spectral readings from drugs procured over the Internet. To create the reference standards, genuine samples provided via prescription by a national pharmacy chain (West Lafayette, Indiana, US) were analyzed using the Raman spectrometer and cross-checked against a second lot from a separate national pharmacy chain store to verify consistency and determine method robustness. In cases where slight lot-to-lot variation was present (as in the case for Lipitor coating thickness), a reference spectrum from both lots was included in the Raman spectroscopic method. In all cases, the two lots of drugs matched well and it was deemed that they were representative samples of authentic products.
of the top 10 products ‘‘most often prescribed’’ in the United States in 2007. The five drugs selected for purchase were (in order of selection priority): Lipitor® 10mg (atorvastatin calcium) a synthetic agent to reduce cholesterol, manufactured by Pfizer; Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) an oral therapy for erectile dysfunction, manufactured by Pfizer; Celebrex® 200mg (celecoxib) a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug for treatment of arthritis, manufactured by Pfizer; Nexium® 40mg (esomeprazole magnesium) a proton pump inhibitor for treatment of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, manufactured by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP; and Zoloft® 100mg (sertraline HCl) a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor for treatment of depression, manufactured by Pfizer. The dosages chosen were the most popular among identified websites and after consultation with Joseph Moody, MD, the physician advising this study. With the approval of his state health board, Dr. Moody provided prescriptions for the drugs. During the procurement process, we always instructed website pharmacies to provide brand-name drugs, and did not procure from websites where only generic versions were available. Once the most popular dosages were identified, reference standards were established for the chosen handheld Raman spectrometer. The spectrometer created a detailed spectral ‘‘fingerprint’’ for each reference standard, which was then compared against spectral readings from drugs procured over the Internet. To create the reference standards, genuine samples provided via prescription by a national pharmacy chain (West Lafayette, Indiana, US) were analyzed using the Raman spectrometer and cross-checked against a second lot from a separate national pharmacy chain store to verify consistency and determine method robustness. In cases where slight lot-to-lot variation was present (as in the case for Lipitor coating thickness), a reference spectrum from both lots was included in the Raman spectroscopic method. In all cases, the two lots of drugs matched well and it was deemed that they were representative samples of authentic products.
BJM-online-pharmacy-revised-Sep182013.docx