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I would recommend that you consult a competent medical doctor prior to taking any medication and that the quality of that medicine must be beyond doubt. ______________________________________________________________ U.N. to probe medicine sales over the Net http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cta474.htm GENEVA - The U.N. health agency said Monday it would launch an investigation into sales of medicine over the Internet. The World Health Organization said it would act promptly to implement a resolution passed earlier Monday by the 191-nation governing body saying it was "particularly concerned that advertising, promotion and sales through the Internet may lead to uncontrolled across-the-border trade of medical products." Such Internet medicine may be "unevaluated, unapproved, unsafe or ineffective, or used inappropriately," said the resolution passed without opposition by the World Health Assembly, which is holding its annual meeting. The resolution expressed concern that Internet sales of medical products "may present a hazard for public health as well as the individual patient." It singled out fears about "misleading or fraudulent product information," as well as health risks because of a lack of individual counseling. The assembly noted that there was an increased use of the Internet to gather information and shop for products, including medication. It said it was possible that the Internet, appropriately used, might contribute to better health care and make medicine and information about it more readily available. Besides sites that sell medicine, the World Wide Web abounds with "home pages" that answer health questions, and provide lists of doctors, hospitals and health insurance plans. The assembly urged member countries to collect information on the Internet sales. WHO spokesman Philippe Stroot said a panel would meet in September to review the data and prepare to report back to the assembly next year. The panel will be made up of national and international enforcement agencies; consumer groups; the pharmaceutical industry, and experts in ethics, legal matters, marketing and communication. The resolution had broad backing from European nations, the United States, Japan and other countries. By The Associated Press -------------- _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ John S. Walker _/ _/ Publisher, CSS Internet News (tm) _/ _/ (Internet Training and Research) _/ _/ PO Box 57247, Jackson Stn., _/ _/ Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8P 4X1 _/ _/ Email [log in to unmask] _/ _/ http://www.networx.on.ca/~jwalker _/ _/ _/ _/ "To Teach is to touch a life forever" _/ _/ On the Web one touch can reach so far! _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/