Here's an article from my local paper, the Bergen Record- normally a decent paper. The doctor they are talking about is one of the EVA/Hope Mills doctors, I've gotten Ultram scripts from him.

Link: http://www.bergenrecord.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2NDc3Nzg4JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg== (you may be required to give your zip code to get access, I'm not sure, so I copied and pasted it here)

Article:

N.J. Doctor's Rx on the Web Draws Scrutiny

Wednesday, January 21, 2004

By LEWIS KRAUSKOPF
STAFF WRITER

As part of a wider investigation into the marketing and distribution of prescription drugs, congressional lawmakers want information from a Montclair doctor who said he has written 100,000 prescriptions over the Internet.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has sent a letter to Dr. Stephen L. Ancier, asking him to answer questions about his prescribing for Internet pharmacies. Ancier is the first to receive the letter, but the committee plans to send similar letters to two-dozen other physicians in the coming weeks, committee spokesman Ken Johnson said.

"This is probably just the tip of the iceberg, but we want to send a clear signal that Congress is looking into these activities," Johnson said.

In the letter, the committee chairmen write that they are seeking information "to determine whether these Web sites in fact provide a service to consumers safely and in compliance with all state and federal laws, or whether in fact the conduct related to these Web sites is illustrative of a growing public health threat."

Ancier, 57, said in a telephone interview that he would cooperate.

In his capacity as a consultant, Ancier said, he has written about 100,000 prescriptions for several Internet pharmacies over the past two years as a way to make a living. He said most of the prescriptions were for "lifestyle drugs" such as Viagra, the baldness medicine Propecia, and diet-control medications, and that at least half were for refills.

Ancier said his consultations involved reviewing a questionnaire filled out by patients, although patients contacted him over the phone on rare occasions about refills.

Asked whether he felt that by prescribing online he could give proper care, Ancier said that is the crux of the controversy.

"I feel you can," Ancier said.

Johnson said that federal and state investigators told the committee about Ancier.

"If, as alleged, he has been writing prescriptions for people that he has not personally examined or consulted, he could have a problem," Johnson said, without elaborating.

The proliferation of Web-site pharmacies and e-mail spam hawking prescription drugs has prompted federal and state authorities to look more closely at the practice, in some cases filing civil suits alleging fraud and improper dispensing of drugs. Much of the focus has centered on pharmacies that prescribe addictive painkillers or other controlled substances over the Internet.

In the letter sent to Ancier, the lawmakers seek a range of information, including records of consumer complaints, Ancier's income, and the Web sites' criteria for determining a valid prescription.

Ancier grew up in Montclair, received his medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and holds active medical licenses in Pennsylvania and Washington State.

His license was revoked in Colorado in 1993 and in New York in 1995, according to the medical boards in those states.

)Documents show he was accused of dishonest conduct on his license applications, primarily failing to acknowledge a 1980 conviction for airline-ticket forgery in New Zealand and giving false birth dates.

"Had I been truthful all along ... the discipline would have been very light, if at all," Ancier said. "I shot myself in the foot."

Facing these and other career challenges, Ancier said he went into debt and struggled to find work in his specialty of emergency medicine.

About two years ago, Ancier said he heard a radio advertisement for buying Viagra over the Internet and sought out the company behind the ad, RB Health.

Eventually, he worked for five companies that ran an array of pharmacy Web sites.

Ancier said he would work 12-hour days and weekends, but that he was able to go through the consultations more quickly as he became accustomed to the process and began to see refill orders. In one particularly heavy week, Ancier said, he wrote 7,000 prescriptions. Other than gaining a small percentage of his income from being an expert witness, he said he does Internet prescribing exclusively.

Ancier said he received $2.50 to $5 each for the vast majority of his consultations, although one company paid him $25 each.

Ancier said he approves 95 percent of the drug applications sent to him, although the Web company screened out many applicants before they reached him, so he estimates about 75 percent of people who apply actually got their drugs. Ancier said one example of a prescription he would reject would be for a woman seeking Viagra.

He reviewed most of the applications at his Montclair home.

He said his online consulting has allowed him to pay off his debts, but that his lifestyle is far from lavish.

He said he is simply a consultant and has nothing to do with management or how the companies are run.

Online prescribing can provide certain advantages for patients, Ancier said. Patients who face long waits to get a doctor's appointment can acquire needed drugs. It also allows privacy to those who feel embarrassed talking to their physicians about certain medicines, such as Viagra.

Responding to the criticism that patients seeking drugs online can easily deceive Web sites, Ancier said: "People can lie to doctors face to face. ... It happens all the time in emergency rooms."

He says he does not want to be lumped in with "offshore" pharmacies selling addictive narcotics such as morphine over the Internet.

"I feel there are many medications where you cannot do it over the Internet and you must physically be able to examine the patient," Ancier said.

He defends the practice of Internet prescribing generally, but say that perhaps more safeguards are needed.

"I don't think, inherently, it's wrong," Ancier said. "It's new. It's controversial."

As for the congressional committee, Ancier hopes it does not rush to judgment.

"I'm just hoping they're open-minded enough to hear what I'm saying and not thinking I'm some renegade doctor," Ancier said.

E-mail:

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So what do you all think? This article's a little less biased than the others, but it was on the front page and it's certain to draw some attention.

-yawkaw