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Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008
Effective from April 13th 2009

The following applies to the United States of America.

The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 was signed by George W. Bush on Oct. 15th, 2008 and went into effect on April 13th, 2009.

The act states: Federal law now requires that you must have an in-person (face-to-face) medical evaluation with the prescribing physician who will verify and document your current condition for which you are receiving or requesting treatment for. It will be illegal for any patient to obtain and any physician to prescribe controlled medications via the internet alone. There are no exceptions to this rule. All patients will be required to be seen in-office for a complete physical exam and medical evaluations before being prescribed any controlled medication(s).

The following is a summary of The Ryan Haight Act of 2008.

An Act to amend the Controlled Substances Act to address online pharmacies. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the: ‘Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008’. SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF A VALID PRESCRIPTION FOR CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES DISPENSED BY MEANS OF THE INTERNET.

Section 309 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 829) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(e) Controlled Substances Dispensed by Means of the Internet-

• (1) No controlled substance may be delivered, distributed, or dispensed by means of the Internet without a valid prescription.
• (2) As used in this subsection:
  • (A) The term `valid prescription' means a prescription that is issued for a legitimate medical purpose in the usual course of professional practice by--
    • (i) a practitioner who has conducted at least 1 in-person medical evaluation of the patient; or
    • (ii) a covering practitioner.
  • (B)(i) The term `in-person medical evaluation' means a medical evaluation that is conducted with the patient in the physical presence of the practitioner, without regard to whether portions of the evaluation are conducted by other health professionals.

To view the entire and detailed Ryan Haight Act of 2008 copy and paste the following address into your browser: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-6353