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May 21, 2004

WASHINGTON – Citing the 2001 overdose death of a La Mesa teenager, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation yesterday to crack down on illegitimate prescription drug sales on the Internet.

The bill, dubbed "The Ryan Haight Act," is aimed at an estimated 500 "rogue pharmacies" operating on the Internet, the California Democrat said.

The bill was named after Ryan Thomas Haight, an honor roll student at Grossmont High School who died in February 2001 from a drug overdose. Haight took a fatal combination of drugs, including hydrocodone and morphine that he purchased from an Internet pharmacy using a debit card.

The legislation would:

Prohibit the virtual pharmacies from distributing drugs to a consumer based solely on an online questionnaire.

Give state prosecutors the authority to pursue charges against online pharmacies suspected of wrongdoing even if they are based in another jurisdiction.

Require the pharmacies to identify their business, pharmacist and physician for consumers.

People with valid prescriptions from a doctor would still be able to buy medications on the Internet, according to a summary of the legislation.

"The growing abuse of prescription drugs, coupled with the ease of access to the Internet, has led to an environment where illegitimate pharmacy Web sites are bypassing regulations governing the sale of prescription drugs," Feinstein said. "With a credit card and a computer, consumers can get prescription drugs without the existence of a bona fide physician-patient relationship, which can pose an immediate threat to public health and safety."

Feinstein is co-sponsoring the bill with Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.