The Internet and the Globalization of Counterfeit Drugs

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald E. deKieffer

Most Internet users receive unsolicited invitations to enhance their health through the purchase of online medications. Often these medications are illegal and may even be counterfeit. However, there are a few legitimate online pharmacies. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy has established the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites program, which certifies the legitimacy of some Internet merchants. Also, there are hundreds of Canadian pharmacies online because of the rise in popularity of Canadian drugs. The actual number of online Canadian pharmacies is difficult to estimate, and many of the so-called Canadian pharmacies are not from Canada. Besides the few legitimate sites in the United States and Canada, most online pharmacies deal with unapproved, illegal, and counterfeit medication. It is hard to know the number of online pharmacies because of the complex structure of the Internet. Their rapid growth can mainly be attributed to huge profits, but online pharmacies are also used for money laundering and may be used for terrorism. Although the United States has been limited in its actions, it still has taken numerous measures. However, internationally, online pharmacies do not appear to be as much of a problem, so almost any action taken has been led by the United States.

2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
RICHARD ROSE

The Internet is a global phenomenon, but the way in which national governments respond to it varies with the political, social and economic context of a country. However, much that is written about the Internet and governance concentrates on a few advanced industrial societies, and especially the United States. Yet the federal and fragmented system of governance in the United States creates obstacles to the use of the Internet, while smaller countries from Estonia to Singapore produce innovations in e-governance. Moreover, even though the United States has more Internet users than any other country today, the growth points in the use of the Internet in the next few years will occur in radically different places, ranging from Russia and Brazil to India and China.


2020 ◽  
pp. 146144482094118
Author(s):  
Angela Xiao Wu ◽  
Harsh Taneja ◽  
James G Webster

Theories explaining the impacts of online media often swing between the actions of empowered individuals and the distribution structures put in place by powerful corporations. To explicate how these factors interact, we adapt the concept of audience flow to highlight the temporal dimension of web use and demonstrate how digital architectures subtly nudge masses of people into online attention flows. We identify sequential usage patterns through a network analysis of passively measured clickstreams, combined with data on website ownership and website architectures. Our sample, based on a panel of 1 million users, includes 1761 websites that reached at least 1% of Internet users in the United States. Our findings reveal previously unseen patterns of online audience formation, which have implications for studying media effects and understanding institutional power on the Internet.


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 597-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seeta Peña Gangadharan

Increasing broadband adoption among members of underserved populations remains a high priority among policymakers, advocates, corporations, and affected communities. But questions about the risks entailed in the flow of personal information are beginning to surface and shine light on the tension between broadband’s benefits and harms. This article examines broadband adoption programs at community-based and public institutions in the United States in order to understand the ways in which privacy and surveillance issues emerge and are engaged in these settings. While adults who enroll in introductory digital literacy classes and access the Internet at public terminals feel optimistic about broadband “opportunities,” they encounter “privacy-poor, surveillance-rich” broadband. Users experience myriad anxieties, while having few meaningful options to meet their concerns.


2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 186-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malini Ratnasingam ◽  
Lee Ellis

Background. Nearly all of the research on sex differences in mass media utilization has been based on samples from the United States and a few other Western countries. Aim. The present study examines sex differences in mass media utilization in four Asian countries (Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Singapore). Methods. College students self-reported the frequency with which they accessed the following five mass media outlets: television dramas, televised news and documentaries, music, newspapers and magazines, and the Internet. Results. Two significant sex differences were found when participants from the four countries were considered as a whole: Women watched television dramas more than did men; and in Japan, female students listened to music more than did their male counterparts. Limitations. A wider array of mass media outlets could have been explored. Conclusions. Findings were largely consistent with results from studies conducted elsewhere in the world, particularly regarding sex differences in television drama viewing. A neurohormonal evolutionary explanation is offered for the basic findings.


Author(s):  
Edward Herbst

Bali 1928 is a restoration and repatriation project involving the first published recordings of music in Bali and related film footage and photographs from the 1930s, and a collaboration with Indonesians in all facets of vision, planning, and implementation. Dialogic research among centenarian and younger performers, composers and indigenous scholars has repatriated their knowledge and memories, rekindled by long-lost aural and visual resources. The project has published a series of five CD and DVD volumes in Indonesia by STIKOM Bali and CDs in the United States by Arbiter Records, with dissemination through emerging media and the Internet, and grass-roots repatriation to the genealogical and cultural descendants of the 1928 and 1930s artists and organizations. Extensive research has overcome anonymity, so common with archival materials, which deprives descendants of their unique identities, local epistemologies, and techniques, marginalizing and homogenizing a diverse heritage so that entrenched hegemonies prevail and dominate discourse, authority, and power.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-41
Author(s):  
Ana Cristina Lindsay ◽  
Qun Le ◽  
Denise Lima Nogueira ◽  
Márcia M. T. Machado ◽  
Mary L. Greaney

Abstract Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess sources of information about gestational weight gain (GWG), diet, and exercise among first-time pregnant Brazilian women in the United States (US). Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Massachusetts, United States. Participants: First-time pregnant Brazilian women. Results: Eighty-six women, the majority of whom were immigrants (96.5%) classified as having low-acculturation levels (68%), participated in the study. Approximately two-thirds of respondents had sought information about GWG (72.1%), diet (79.1%), and exercise (74.4%) via the internet. Women classified as having low acculturation levels were more likely to seek information about GWG via the internet (OR = 7.55; 95% CI: 1.41, 40.26) than those with high acculturation levels after adjusting for age and receiving information about GWG from healthcare provider (doctor or midwife). Moreover, many respondents reported seeking information about GWG (67%), diet (71%), and exercise (52%) from family and friends. Women who self-identified as being overweight pre-pregnancy were less likely to seek information about diet (OR = 0.32; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.93) and exercise (OR = 0.33; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.96) from family and friends than those who self-identified being normal weight pre-pregnancy. Conclusions: This is the first study to assess sources of information about GWG, diet, and exercise among pregnant Brazilian immigrants in the US. Findings have implications for the design of interventions and suggest the potential of mHealth intervention as low-cost, easy access option for delivering culturally and linguistically tailored evidence-based information about GWG incorporating behavioral change practices to this growing immigrant group.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 239920262110056
Author(s):  
John B Hertig ◽  
Shannon M James ◽  
Connor J Hummel ◽  
Matthew J Rubin

Background: An estimated 95% of all online pharmacies operate unlawfully. Illegal online pharmacies distribute substandard and falsified medical products that may result in patient harm and suboptimal treatment, leading to an overall mistrust of medications, healthcare providers, and health systems. As medication experts, pharmacists are trusted to guide patients in selection of safe and effective medication therapy. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine gaps in knowledge and recognition of the negative clinical and safety impacts associated with illegal Internet pharmacies by licensed pharmacists. Methods: A 37-question electronic survey was developed and distributed to pharmacists across the United States by email via a database from the American Pharmacists Association. Descriptive statistics was utilized to analyze data. Results: A total of 347 pharmacists from across the United States responded to at least one question in the survey. In all, 58% of pharmacists reported a lack of confidence in their ability to counsel patients on the identification of illegal pharmacy websites. Fewer than 60% of pharmacists were able to accurately identify the legitimacy of a webpage based on visual characteristics. In addition, 75% of pharmacists reported being unfamiliar with resources available to help consumers identify safe and legitimate online pharmacies. Conclusion: Integration of the topic into pharmacy education curricula, training on available resources, and additional research into the prevalence and impact of illegal pharmacy websites are necessary to ensure that pharmacists and other healthcare professionals are adequately prepared to protect their communities from the threat of illegal online pharmacies.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 330-330
Author(s):  
T. E. C.

Dr. Richard Arthur Bolt (1880-1959) was both a greatly respected American pediatrician and an acknowledged leader in the development of maternal and infant hygiene programs. His chapter entitled "The Mortalities of Infancy" in Isaac Abt's (1867-1955) encyclopedic, nine-volume treatise on pediatrics, published between 1923 and 1926, contains this negative view of birth control.1 This terrific loss of life in utero or shortly after birth constitutes a serious problem from a biological as well as a social standpoint. Of recent years there has been an alarming increase in the frequency and actual number of induced abortions. This has gone hand in hand with the insidious propaganda for so-called "birth control" or "voluntary parenthood"—a movement which has gained momentum in France, Holland and New Zealand, and has gradually spread to England and the United States. While the birth control enthusiasts would indignantly disclaim any connection between the "contraceptive methods" of "voluntary parenthood" and induced abortions, it is very evident that the more "moral technique" of contraception must often break down and relief from the "accidents" which follow be frequently sought in induced abortion. Thus far contraceptive methods have been practiced largely by the elite and better educated classes. Those most able to bear children and meet their support have been the very ones to shirk the responsibility, while those for whom birth control is claimed to be a great boon still proceed to build up large families. It has been estimated that at least four children to a family are necessary to keep up the stock.


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