Assessing Trustworthiness of Internet Pharmacies with an Internet Browser Extension

BACKGROUND: Many people are turning to online pharmacies for medication purchases leading to a growing number of legal and illegal online pharmacies (IOPs). With a growing number of IOPs, consumers are more likely to receive substandard or falsified medications when purchasing medications online. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to identify the number of verified, not recommended, and not verified pharmacy websites consumers see using different keywords and medications on an Internet browser based off the National Association Boards of Pharmacy’s (NABP) list of verified and not recommended websites. It also aims to compare which keywords result in more not recommended pharmacy websites compared with verified pharmacy websites for consumers over time. DESIGN AND METHODS: We created an Internet browser extension compatible with different Internet browsers to quickly identify which search results are verified, not recommended, and not verified based on NABP lists. We then utilized an application programming interface to automatically search different key terms and classify the search results as verified, not recommended, and not verified over a 4-week data collection period for analysis. RESULTS: A total of 131 key terms were used for the search. There was an average signal determining the number of verified and not recommended search results compared with not verified results of 4.3% over the 4-week data collection period. There was about a 3:1 ratio of not recommended to verified search results noted. Top signal and not recommended search result producing keywords contained words such as “shipped” and “cheap.” CONCLUSION: The Internet browser extension will aid in making it easier to identify which search results are safe and which are not safe when searching to purchase medications online. This study has set the premise on expanding how to use an Internet pharmacy extension to combat IOPs, improve patient safety, and increase safe access to medications.