samw420
Member
Reged: 12/19/01
Posts: 142
Loc: NYC Metro Area
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Hey all...
It seems my local newspaper has joined the fight against online physicians and pharmacy services. They went "undercover" to exploit the dark and deadly world of those who seek to ease their own pain.
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2003/12/28/bqdrugna.htm
This newspaper won't let you look at the article unless you register, so I registered a DB account that you all can use:
Member Name: dbnews
Password: dbnews
Happy reading!
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SW
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yawkaw3
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/22/03
Posts: 1193
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I can't believe this reporter...
Quote:
I bought the Valium first. I picked a site at random, and ended up at buymeds.com...
???
Quote:
And he's now under investigation because I blew the whistle on him. So is the pharmacy in Houston, which opened for business in March. Pharmacies in Texas aren't supposed to fill prescriptions unless there's a doctor-patient relationship.
In this case, there's no doctor. And Peter and I can't possibly have a relationship given that I'm in New York and he's
well, who knows where he is.
Anyway, I got the Valium.
At least this happened...
Quote:
I GOT ripped off on the Oxycontin
This reporter disgusts me.
-yawkaw
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HANN
Stranger
Reged: 11/20/03
Posts: 6
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i say we all right this reporter a letter atating the facts of cronic pain sufferes and the fact that our personell doctors WILL NOT treat us the way we should be.
for me if i dont have my pain meds there are days i just cant get out of bed due to my deteriating disc disease and bulging lower back pain,along with the arthritis in my back.
so WHAT THE HELL are we all supposed to do ? sit back and suffer when there is a medication made for each and everyone of our problems that can help us try to live a productive life?
these people are looking for attention ,and we need to SPEEK out on our behalf, this is our couintry too Best if kept off the board it and i willl fight for what is right for everyone!!
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potatoboy99
Permanent Fixture
Reged: 02/04/03
Posts: 1198
Loc: Deep North (East)
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Quote:
This reporter disgusts me.
-yawkaw
Ditto that, yawkaw.
In the name of "investigative journalism", this moron, and countless other reporters like her, has published accurate URL's for the sites she has used, as well as prices and step by step instructions outlining EXACTLY how ANYBODY reading his article can buy drugs online.
Many countless readers of this newspaper, including teenagers, would never have considered making online drug purchases before reading in this article just how easy it can be. This is nothing more than a Tour Guide to the OP world.
This kind of "journalism" is reckless and dangerous. Reporters like this one should be held accountable in the court of public opinion for the damaged lives they leave in their wake. This really ticks me off.
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samw420
Member
Reged: 12/19/01
Posts: 142
Loc: NYC Metro Area
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... and going back over the article, I just realized that the reporter who did the story, Beth Quinn, was my college english prof. Oh the irony of it all ...
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SW
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CeeBee
Member
Reged: 08/09/03
Posts: 183
Loc: garden state
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Well Samw I can't exactly say thanks because it sure isn't great reading but I am glad you brought it to our attention. What a smug turd she is! I wonder what she did with the valium she received, I bet kept it for further research. I thought a true journalist was supposed to be non-judgmental and to find out all the why's and wherefore's. Hey does anyone think we should e-mail her? Or would that be a bad move? I would love to tell her off. 
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yawkaw3
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/22/03
Posts: 1193
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Here is a picture of her (she's ugly) with her past articles: http://www.recordonline.com/news/bquinn.html . Some of the articles have her phone number at the end, if you'd prefer to contact her that way.
I really would like to tell her off too, but I'm sure that would only further cement her opinions of us. The best possible letter/email/whatever to her would have a sad story about chronic pain and undertreatment by doctors, leaving OP's as the last resort. It would gently suggest she consider another viewpoint on the topic, that not everyone who orders their medicine online is a kid or drug addict. I bet she has already received some correspondence from angry chronic pain sufferers.
But if you do write her, DON'T tell her about DB- we don't need DB mentioned in any news article and bringing more heat.
-yawkaw
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CeeBee
Member
Reged: 08/09/03
Posts: 183
Loc: garden state
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Absolutely Yawkaw, I really didn't know if I wanted this very biased lady having my e-mail address if I contacted her that way. So maybe a cell phone call to her or if I can get an address to write an actual, level-headed letter. Never would I mention DB or any other sites or sources. Not to worry I know how to be discreet.
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CeeBee
Member
Reged: 08/09/03
Posts: 183
Loc: garden state
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Oh and yes she is a bit of a woof.
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yawkaw3
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/22/03
Posts: 1193
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I meant, anyone who writes her, please don't mention DB- not you specifically- I just replied to your post because it was right above mine.
Anyway, here is another article she wrote: http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2003/12/28/bqonline.htm . This one tries to be more newsy and less opinionated, though it does start with:
Quote:
Yes, it's illegal.
Yes, it's dumb.
Yes, it's dangerous.
-yawkaw
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CeeBee
Member
Reged: 08/09/03
Posts: 183
Loc: garden state
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Not to worry I took your point in the light it was given, that's what I wanted some feedback. I can't seem to click on to that last url you posted, but I think she's dumb and unfortunately dangerous.
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Firefairy
Member
Reged: 11/26/03
Posts: 147
Loc: Mississippi
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to bad she's not illegal.
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gage
Member
Reged: 11/27/02
Posts: 138
Loc: south central U.S.A.
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JUST A QUICK THANK YOU TO MICHAEL IN MEXICO!! 
the one time im really glad somebody got ripped off!!
at least she didnt get any narcotics gage
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LordHawHaw
Journeyman
Reged: 10/27/03
Posts: 73
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I think it all stinks. And I don't blame "Michael in Mexico" one bit. I mean, who orders one (1) pill, anyway? I don't think that's an indication of his bad service as much as probably his gut instinct that this is some kind of idiotic setup. Not that I have any connections or experience with this person, but if it were me and I received the order for 1 stinking pill, i'd think something weird was up, too. I'd just refund the money, but that's just me.....
Thanks for posting the article.
LHH
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Spectre13
Enthusiast
Reged: 12/10/03
Posts: 298
Loc: ThunderHeadTippyTops
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She received oxy, but she didn't receive it - welcome to the Twilight Zone. If she had surfed drugbuyers first, she would have known that is a no good ingrate - but she's probably to busy blasting the place to use her brain.
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When you think it's beyond your comprehension, it probably just precedes it.
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phillesh
Journeyman
Reged: 12/17/02
Posts: 80
Loc: New York City
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Your best course of action is to write a letter to the editor (if you're so inclined). The address on their web page is:
40 Mulberry Street
PO Box 2046
Middletown, NY
10940
~Phil
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turcica
seeker
Reged: 12/21/03
Posts: 312
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I think we will continue to see articles like this one and variations of the topic for some time to come. It seems that OP's are the topic "de jour". Journalists are like that, they will hound a story to the ground ( Lacy Petterson for instance) until something hotter comes along and then you don't hear another thing. Hope something hotter comes along soon. turcica
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turcica
The only failure is not knowing how to be happy
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tray1
Enthusiast
Reged: 11/22/03
Posts: 241
Loc: US
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Just a thought.......
Wouldn't it be something if there was a way to simulate diff forms of chronic pain so that people like this woman could live one day in the life so to say....I mean just for an example, when police officers are trained to use pepper spray part of their training is to be sprayed by it so that they know what is causes.....maybe if these do-gooders had any idea what it felt like to have your spine feel like its on fire to the point that there is NO comfortable position only to be told by their PCP that Motrin 800 and maybe a muscle relaxer should be suffcient.....or how about having a migrane so bad that all you can do is lie completely still in a completely dark and noiseless room hoping that the nausea will subside so that you dont have to crawl on all fours to the toilet...Sorry to sound so aggrivated and you guys are the last ones that need to hear it because you all live it day to day but it just makes me sick.....Especially when I hear about cancer patients that are lying on their deathbed, deprived of adequate relief...what is wrong with this society? If someone is dying they should be entitiled to anything they want wether it be Morphine, Oxycontin, or a freaking hershey bar.....sorry to have ranted...I will stop now....My prayers are with all of you out there in pain, hope there will be some kind of relief available for you.
Take Care
Tray 
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IMSUSCOT1
Threadhead
Reged: 10/23/02
Posts: 860
Loc: usa
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Excellent work sam! I think it only right that this "reporter" be reported to LE, for purchasing schedule II medications w/o a prescription with individuals she KNEW were unlicensed to prescribe....
While the "physician's assistant, who is now under invesitgation" thanks to our friend Beth Quinn, her article is now in the hands of the DEA and Attorney's General in New York, Texas & U.S. Attorney General, John Ashcroft.
Being a "journalist" doesn't give you a "get out of jail free card" and anyone who gives this much detailed information, on a blatant illegal activity needs to see the process through to it's reckoning with THE LAW.
She deserves it...I'll watch with great interest as Ms. Quinn gets acquainted with what she would have known to fear & avoid, had she belonged to DB.com.....but she can now suffer her own consequences.
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ML63
Member
Reged: 02/08/03
Posts: 176
Loc: Upstate New York
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I love it! These "journalists" break the law and then say "look what I did!" like they're saving the world or something. While they're at it, why don't they go to a local doctor, lie about needing oxy, fill the script and then write about that? They don't because they wouldn't want to break the law. So what's the difference between lying online and lying to a physician face to face in order to obtain prescription meds? Of course if she had an actual need for the medication, there wouldn't be any story other than how convenient OP's are! Now while these reporters ARE scum, the fact is that plenty of negative things are written and posted here everyday about OP's such as the ones she targeted and how they're endangering the legitimate OP's. I'd say that most of us even hope that these no-records/no prescription OP's go completely out of business because they do make the legit OP's look bad to those who lump all online medical services into the same category. The thing is that every profession has two contrasting ends. There's the attorney who draws up your will and the attorney who chases ambulances. There's the journalist who reports crime as it happens and the journalist who creates the crime in order to write about it. And I agree with one of the replies to this thread that points out that in the course of blowing in these seedy operations, the reporter is providing a roadmap for some enterprising teens to go ahead and take the plunge themselves! And I know from personal experience that articles such as these absolutely do serve as advertisments. I'm way over 30 and use the services of a legit OP, but it wasn't until I read a certain "news" article two years ago that I learned that hydro was legal to obtain via the internet!
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DrugBuyers
Administrator
Reged: 11/18/01
Posts: 1226
Loc: DrugBuyers.Com
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Here is the article.
Quote:
Online drug peddling - Just a click away
By Beth Quinn
Times Herald-Record
If you want to fall through Alice's looking glass, get onto the Internet and type "buy Valium" into the Google search engine.
More than 933,000 sites pop up. Many of them say, "No prescription required."
Try typing in "buy Zoloft." More than a million sites.
Try Rush Limbaugh's drug of choice, Oxycontin, a major narcotic in the morphine family. The drug is sold on the street by dealers and used by addicts. "Buy Oxycontin" yields 146,000 sites.
I bought it.
I bought Oxycontin, Valium and more. Online. Without a prescription.
My shopping spree took me to a phony doctor outside of San Antonio, Texas, and a supplier farther south in Tijuana, Mexico. I got packages of drugs delivered to my home from the South Pacific island of Vanuatu. I've got a supplier in Thailand now, and another pal in England. At least, I think he's in England.
All of this without leaving my home. And, in some cases, it was as easy as one-click shopping at Amazon.com.
Come with me, and I'll show you the bizarre world of drugs that I discovered while sipping tea as I shopped online.
IT WAS all the spam that got me started. Six months ago, I began receiving at least a dozen e-mails a day inviting me to buy drugs online without a prescription.
Discreet Online Pharmacy, said one subject line. Stop Your Stress Now! said another. Rx Vicodin is HERE. And Your Trusted Viagra Source, Overnight Delivery.
Doctors get years of training before they're entrusted with a prescription pad. Was it really possible that any idiot could now self-prescribe? I went online to find out.
I bought the Valium first.
I picked a site at random, and ended up at buymeds.com. This, as it turns out, is the only U.S.-based Web site that I ordered from. It was also the only one that went through a pretense of having a doctor look over my order before approving it.
I placed an order for 30 5-mg. Valium tablets using a Visa credit card.
Before approving my purchase, buymeds.com asked me to fill out a little medical questionnaire. They wanted to know my age, sex and if I was allergic to anything. They wanted to know why I wanted the Valium.
I said I was feeling a bit edgy.
I got an e-mail confirmation that my order would be processed after a doctor approved it.
That's when it got interesting.
A few days later, on Thanksgiving, I got an e-mail from the "doctor."
Hi, this is Dr. Lopez. I was unable to reach you by phone. I just need to ask you some questions about your medical history, when you can, please call me at 830-708-0629, you may call me on Thursday since I'll be home all day and night, thanks.
I tried calling Dr. Lopez at what turned out to be a voice mailbox with a phone exchange near San Antonio, Texas.
But I couldn't leave a message. The voice mailbox was full.
I e-mailed him instead. Can we do this by e-mail, I asked.
He responded: OK, I need your actual name.
My actual name? I told him I'd been using my actual name all along. I was tempted to add, And I need your actual profession, but I restrained myself.
He wanted to know about my past Valium use. I said I once borrowed some from a friend. Good enough for Dr. Lopez. He approved it.
The Valium arrived five days later by Fed Ex. The prescription had been filled by a Houston pharmacy, SafeGuard/Rx. The pills were in an amber pharmacy bottle with a child-guard cap.
Safety first, I guess.
Dr. Peter Lopez's name was on the label as the prescribing physician.
The thing is, there's no Dr. Peter Lopez in Texas, according to the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners. There's a physician assistant by that name, though.
But, uh oh. The physician assistant Peter Lopez doesn't have a license in Texas. He lost it May 2 when he failed to pay his annual licensing fee.
He doesn't even have an office located in Texas. His home is in Middletown, Conn., as far as the Medical Board knows.
And he's now under investigation because I blew the whistle on him. So is the pharmacy in Houston, which opened for business in March. Pharmacies in Texas aren't supposed to fill prescriptions unless there's a doctor-patient relationship.
In this case, there's no doctor. And Peter and I can't possibly have a relationship given that I'm in New York and he'sØ
Øwell, who knows where he is.
Anyway, I got the Valium.
I WENT for a whole menu of random drugs at the next site, inhousepharmacy.com. This place didn't even pretend to have a doctor looking at my order. There was no medical questionnaire. There were no questions of any kind except which credit card would I be using.
I ordered some Viagra for penile dysfunction and, to make it interesting, I also ordered the injectable birth control product Depo Provera with the syringe. While I was at it, I ordered some Dilantin for epilepsy and some Celebrex for the pain of arthritis.
They charged $143 to my Visa card and sent me a perky confirmation e-mail. Thanks for your order! they said. My order number was 166144.
The drugs and syringe arrived by air mail a week later. The package was labeled "health products" on the outside. The drugs were still sealed in what appeared to be original pharmaceutical packaging from a company called Pharmacia.
They had been mailed from Vanuatu.
If you're like me, you never heard of Vanuatu, so I looked it up on the Internet. It's a chain of islands in the South Pacific.
You'd think that a South Pacific island would have a picture of the ocean on its Web page, huh. Not this one.
Its main tourist attraction is a list of law firms that specialize in setting up off-shore businesses. "Privacy" is its promise.
You can, apparently, do anything you want on the island of Vanuatu and they'll never tell on you.
I GOT ripped off on the Oxycontin.
It's actually a bit harder to buy narcotics online than other drugs, probably because they're controlled substances and people go to jail for selling them.
To get Oxycontin, I needed a middleman. I picked the Web site themedshop.com.
For $99.95, this site gave me preferred customer status for a year. This means they provided me with a long list of "premium pharmacies" in Europe, Mexico and Asia, which would be happy to provide me with my narcotic of choice Oxycontin, morphine, opium, you name it.
These "premium pharmacies" don't have Web sites. They have hotmail addresses.
I picked one at random and sent a customer inquiry to
Themedshop.com referred me to you, I wrote. I'm seeking your price list and ordering procedure for Oxycontin.
Two days later, I got a response: Oxycontin 80 mg 1 tab $70US plus 15 percent shipping.
I was to send the money via Western Union to Misael Rodriguez Sanchez in Tijuana, Mexico. When he got the money, he was to e-mail me the UPS tracking number for my purchase.
Well, I did it. I sent Misael $85 for one tab of Oxycontin plus shipping. I wired it from the Western Union desk at Hannaford's in the Town of Wallkill. I've got to say I felt a little seamy sending $85 to Tijuana, Mexico, but the women behind the counter were real nice to me. They didn't know they were dealing with a criminal.
I went home and sent Misael an e-mail with the Western Union number so he could pick up the money.
He wrote back to say he got it: OK, I will send the UPS tracking number ASAP, he promised.
That was on Dec. 4. Alas, it is the last contact I've had from Misael.
I e-mailed him once more. Where's my stuff? I asked. But I've been met with stony silence. It appears I've been jilted. What a surprise.
TWO OTHER companies also wanted to do business by Western Union, but I drew the line after being burned by Misael.
I tried ordering some anabolic steroids from 1anabolic-steroids.com, but they said they'd ship them anywhere in the world except the U.S. Instead, I decided to buy some tamoxifen, a drug used in the treatment of breast cancer.
They would have sent it, too, except my Visa card company declined approval. I was advised by the 1anabolic-steroid.com people that I should call my credit card company and verbally instruct them to approve it. Either that or I could send money by Western Union to Mr. Prakij Klongking in Klongton, Thailand.
Well, I didn't know Prakij any better than I knew Misael, so I decided against sending him my money.
The same thing happened when I tried ordering Zoloft from pharmacymex.com. My credit card company didn't want to do business with them, either. In this case, my alternative was to wire money to David Rosales Herrera in Tijuana, Mexico. I took a pass.
I wonder if David is pals with Misael. In fact, I wonder if maybe he is Misael. Or maybe he's really Peter Lopez, the unlicensed physician assistant. I must e-mail Peter and ask.
Meanwhile, I'm ditching the drugs. Child-guard caps or not, I'd feel safer sitting in the middle of a firing range than popping pills from Vanuatu.
What's available
Diazepam (generic Valium)
-Ordered from: buymeds.com
-Amount: 30 5-mg tablets
-Cost online: $128.70
-Pharmacy cost: $8.54
-Use: management of anxiety disorders
-Warnings: addictive; should not be taken by patients with acute narrow-angle glaucoma or used with alcohol, anticonvulsants or psychotropic medications
Zoloft (generic)
-Ordered from: pharmacymex.com
-Amount: 50 25-mg tablets
-Cost online: $49
-Pharmacy cost: $136.31 for brand name; generic not available
-Use: treatment of major depression, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder
-Warnings: prescriptions should be written in small quantities to reduce risk of overdose or suicide
Celebrex
-Ordered from: inhouseparmacy.com
-Amount: 60 100-mg tablets
-Cost online: $48
-Pharmacy cost: $108.49
-Use: management of acute pain and pain associated with arthritis
-Warnings: lowest effective dose should be taken for shortest possible period to reduce risk for gastro-intestinal bleeding, ulceration or perforation
Depo-Provera (with syringe)
-Ordered from: inhousepharmacy.com
-Amount: 1 vial, 50-mg dose
-Cost online: $46
-Pharmacy cost: not available in 50-mg dose; dispensed in 100-mg doses ($46.21/5 vials) or 150-mg doses ($57.88/5 vials)
-Use: contraceptive injection
-Warnings: should not be taken by patients who may be pregnant or have blood clots, heart disease, liver disease, certain cancers, hypertension, diabetes, or certain types of headache
Viagra
-Ordered from: inhousepharmacy.com
-Amount: four 50-mg tablets
-Cost: $71
-Pharmacy cost: $41.96
-Use: treatment of erectile dysfunction
-Warnings: risk of heart attack during sexual activity in those with cardiac conditions and/or taking nitroglycerin
Dilantin
-Ordered from: inhousepharmacy.com
-Amount: 200 30-mg capsules
-Cost: $24
-Pharmacy cost: $54.93
-Use: to control grand-mal seizures
-Warnings: can cause birth defects, such as cleft palate, heart malformations, microcephaly and mental retardation
Nolvadex (a brand of tamoxifen)
-Ordered from: 1anabolic-steroids.com
-Amount: 30 20-mg tablets
-Cost: $69
-Pharmacy cost: $126.41
-Use: treatment of breast cancer
-Warnings: can cause certain types of uterine cancer
Oxycontin
-Ordered from: an e-mail address ([email protected])
-Amount: 1 80-mg tablet
-Cost: $85
-Pharmacy cost: $13.76
-Use: treatment of moderate to severe pain
-Warnings: a highly addictive Schedule II controlled substance; an overdose can kill; breaking the tablets before taking can be fatal because absorption is speeded up
Sources: The Physician Desk Reference, online Web sites and AccuCare Pharmacy, Middletown
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"Whosoever is spared personal pain must feel himself called to help in diminishing the pain of others." Dr Albert Schweitzer
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Julz
Enthusiast
Reged: 11/17/03
Posts: 220
Loc: NJ Shore
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Quote:
If you want to fall through Alice's looking glass, get onto the Internet and type "buy Valium" into the Google search engine.
Now, I was always under the impression that Alice was on some pretty heavy Hallucinogenics. I guess I never realized that Valium made you see talking rabbits.
Seriously though, I also find it disgusting that these reporters are actually going online and buying not one, not two, not three, but MANY drugs of various types just to write an article. Makes me sad. For once I would love to see one of them write an article on something like... "How Parents Should Monitor (and maybe even pay some attention to) Their Children And Their Children's Computer Access", or better yet, I would love for one of them to visit a Pain Clinic and just hang out in the waiting room for a day.
Julz
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Love never fails. 1Cor 13:8
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samw420
Member
Reged: 12/19/01
Posts: 142
Loc: NYC Metro Area
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This tale of biased, irresponsible journalism continues...
Imagine my surprise when I logged in yesterday and found this private message waiting for me:
Quote:
Hey Sam.
You might want to tell your pals at drugbuyers.com that there are no secrets in cyberspace. And they need not agonize over how to let me know that I'm a smug, stupid, irresponsible woofer. I've read their comments.
I'm happy to see that you learned a little something in my class at OCCC. Your spelling and grammar are marginally better than most of the other posters on this site. Tell the others that they lose credibility when attacking someone if their writing is replete with errors. It makes them sound a bit dumb and - perhaps? - a bit addicted to some mind-numbing drug.
Have a happy new year.
Beth Quinn
Times Herald-Record
Now, I find it a bit telling that the content of this message revolves around letting us all know that the "secret is out" and that she, as well as countless others are watching. Thanks for the "heads-up" Ms. Quinn! Now that our top-secret URL, DrugBuyers.com, has been compromised, we'll be forced back into the depths from whence we came.
Time for a reality check Beth - we're all well aware of the watchful eyes that scour public forums like DB. What you don't seem to grasp is that, while it is an inherent truth that there is a percentage of people who abuse medication and use the Internet as their means of aquisition, there is a much, much larger population with legitimate needs. It is this group that was and is so outraged at the slanted and irresponsible rhetoric that you, and others before you, have perpetrated. It is a flaw of logic to assume that the people who were angered by your report are recreational fun-seekers, and not legitimate sufferers.
The reasons one might pursue this avenue of medical service are numerous. Many doctors fear prescribing controlled substances because of the Gestapo-like tactics of overseeing agencies and entities. Some people simply cannot afford regular expensive face-to-face office visits. After all, it's no secret that the health care industry in this country is built on a foundation of corporate profit and hypocrisy.
I think if your article contained at least a single mention of the legitimate and intended purpose of these resources, there would not have been such reaction.
I know i'm just whistling Dixie here but maybe, just maybe, the next time you blow the lid off another nefarious "secret" you'll have the good sense to do the right thing and include opposing viewpoints in a neutral, unbiased tone.
In case you've forgotten what it is you do for a living, Ms. Quinn, i'll leave you with this excerpt from Webster's dictionary:
Quote:
jour·nal·ism
Pronunciation: 'j&r-n&l-"i-z&m
writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation
All the best...
--------------------
SW
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joesentme
Journeyman
Reged: 08/26/03
Posts: 91
Loc: USA
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Great post, Sam. So, now not only is she a "journalist", but she's also a "spy". haha 
By the way, what's her board name?
Jo
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