Wednesday, July 7, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 5
Kansas officials trying to monitor prescription drugs
Bv Lisa John
Kansan managing editor
A century ago, Kansas lawmakers battled ruffians on the prairie. Today, they're batting them on the Internet.
Kansas is leading the nation in a fight to curtail Internet drug companies that are dispensing prescription medicine where there is not a proven physician-patient relationship, said Mark Stafford, attorney for the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts.
While fighting lawbreakers on the Internet is one thing, finding them is another.
"It's like jousting with the wind-mills," Stafford said.
But even still, Stafford has managed to find them.
The issue first cropped up last June when Stafford received a notice from the Federation of State Medical Boards that said there were concerns about Internet prescription companies.
"We decided to take a look at the Web sites." Stafford said.
Not so coincidentally, this new Internet business took off at about the same time that two popular new drugs came on the market: Meridia, a diet medication similar to the now banned Fen-Phen, and Viagra.
As far as prescription medications are concerned, Stafford said,
"If it relates to losing weight, or if it relates to sex, it will sell."
Stafford said the drugs do sell, although he has no idea how many of the prescriptions are delivered to Kansans.
Stafford said the law doesn't have a problem with the sales of these drugs or with the people who have purchased them through these companies. The problem, he said, is that the medications essentially are being sold without a physician's orders.
Here's how it works. The patient logs onto an interactive Web site and fills out a health history form online.
"If you answer all the questions right, they will send you the drugs," Stafford said. "If there were some questions or contraindications, then supposedly, they'd send the form to the doctor first."
In November, Stafford's office filed a lawsuit against Lifestyles USA, Inc., Seattle, Wash., formerly known as Performance Drugs. Stafford said that a resulting judgment for bade the company from sending prescription drugs into Kansas.
In February, the Kansas Attorney General's office filed suit against the same company.
Kelli Benintendi, Assistant Attorney General, said her office has filed eight lawsuits against various Internet companies since February.
"Some of the companies have the Internet web sites, some of them have the pharmacies that were involved in actually dispensing the medications, and some are against the individual doctors," Benintendi said.
Benintendl also noticed a dramatic rise in Internet pharmacy business when Viagra came on the
Mark Stafford, attorney
Konans State Board of Heading Arts
"We were the only state and we may still be the only state that has actually filed civil lawsuits to stop this."
Kansas State Board of Healing Arts
market in the spring of 1998. She said that the lure of buying prescriptions on the Internet in a discrete manner, as well as saving the cost of going to a physician may be what appeals to consumers.
A big worry,Benintendi said,is that children may also purchase these medications.
This was proven when a 16-year-old who was participating in an Attorney General's office investigation was able to order Viagra from two Web sites, and Meridia from another Web site.
"On the application on the Web site, the minor did give his truthful date of birth, so the company should have been aware that this was a minor," Benintendi said.
"They're very helpful medications, but they can be very dangerous when consumers can purchase them without a doctor's involvement," she said.
The goal of the lawsuits is not to prevent Kansans from having access to these prescriptions, Ben-intendi said.
Sahar Girgis, patient pharmacy supervisor at the University of Kansas Medical Center, agreed that Internet drug buying could be dangerous.
"For instance, people can die
from taking Viagra if they have any heart problems or blood pressure problems," Girgis sat. "There are specific ways to use it, and they're not supposed to use it more than twice a week. If they can get hold of 10 to 20 tablets, they might use it as many times as they want."
There is a difference between mail-order pharmacies and Internet pharmacies, Girgis said.
Benintendi said she wonders what the future of Internet drug sales will be.
"With a mail order you have a prescription from your doctor. He knows everything about you, so if he feels comfortable giving you these drugs, that's fine. But to get a drug from the Internet where no doctor sees you—this is just unbelievable," she said.
"The law hasn't caught up with the technology," she said. "We're trying to apply old laws to very, very new issues."
As for Stafford, he continues his quixotic crusade.
In February, he filed two more lawsuits against Internet prescription companies.
"We were the only state, and we may still be the only state that has actually filed civil lawsuits to stop this," he said.
When a recent Web search turned up a company that said it could not sell drugs in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, Stafford said he picked up the phone and suggested they add Kansas to the list.
"I told them, 'We've successfully sued other companies and you could be next.'"
Edited by Mike Miller
Cellular calls don't begin with 'hello'
Wireless companies charge even if calls don't connect
The Associated Press
With mobile phones, the situation can be altogether different.
NEW YORK — Whether it is local or long distance, home phone or pay phone, it is understood: A call starts with "hello." If there is no answer, there is no charge.
Most mobile phone companies charge from the moment the caller hits the "send" button, and some industry leaders such as Sprint PCS charge for calls even if there is no answer.
This is especially true if the caller is paying extra fees for peak-hour usage, long-distance or out-of-area roaming charges of 60 cents or more a minute.
Because companies generally charge for a full minute, even when less than a minute is used, those few seconds of ringing could substantially inflate a monthly bill.
Most companies, however, don't charge if there is a busy signal.
These billing policies are spelled out in the contracts signed by today's 76 million cell phone users. But even some experts and careful shoppers were surprised to hear of them.
"I had no idea, and I would consider myself as astute on my telephone charges as anybody," said Rex G. Mitchell, a telecommunications industry analyst with Banc of America Securities in San Francisco and a former executive with the regional phone company U S West.
"Occasionally, when I'm out of town, I
will make a call and look at the second hand on my watch to keep it under a minute because I'm paying long-distance or roaming charges. But I've been timing it from 'hello' instead of from 'send.' I won't make that mistake now."
The issue of first-minute billing policies recently caught the public eye after Cellular One tried to reduce the free ringing time it gives its New England customers from 30 seconds to 15. The carrier was bombarded by customer complaints, and it quickly scrapped the change.
Many of the people signing up for wireless service each month focus less on when the call begins and more on how many minutes are included in their monthly calling plan or the fees for long distance and peak-hour calls.
Adam Litwinsky, 26, an independent filmmaker from New York, disconnected his home phone and uses his wireless for all calls. He had no idea that he could be charged for unanswered calls.
"I never really paid much attention to it, honestly," he said. "I just assumed. It kind of stinks."
Of course, regular calls also use resources such as space on a fiber-optic cable. But the companies argue that they have far greater capacity in their cables than in their wireless channels and that the demands of carrying a regular phone signal are negligible compared with those of a wireless signal.
The industry's rationale is that every cellular call uses the airwaves regardless of whether the call is successful.
"You're occupying a channel, so when you make a connection, you get charged from the inception of when you seize that
channel," said Jeff Battcher, a BellSouth representative. "For the most part, it's always been that way."
Sprint PCS and Nextel Communications are among those who time calls from "send" and charge for at least a minute regardless of whether there's an answer.
Even among companies that charge only when a call goes through, including AirTouch, Bell Atlantic Mobile and BellSouth Mobility, the meter usually starts running from "send," not from "hello."
Industry leader AT&T Wireless also starts the clock from "send" but doesn't charge for incomplete calls made from a customer's home region.
Because many calling plans come with hundreds of minutes to burn each month, a lot of mobile phone users rarely reach their limit and don't need to pay additional charges for calls that don't go through.
Litwinsky, for example, pays $100 a month for a Sprint PCS plan with 1,000 minutes of airtime so he won't have to worry about how long he talks or how many calls he makes. "I never go over," he said.
But for those who frequently exceed their monthly allowance or who sign up for cheaper plans with smaller time allotments, the first-minute charges can be substantial.
Sheila Adkins, representative for the Council of Better Business Bureaus and a Cellular One customer, was also surprised to hear about "send-to-end" charges.
"They don't tell you these things," she said. "I read my bill; I read all the filers. It goes to show, you really have to read your contract."
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