Data from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Spam Data Mine show that morethan 50% of all spam email consists of advertisements for online pharmacies and that themajority of these pharmacies will sell prescription drugs without a prescription. Some will evencross the line, selling illegal drugs to consumers. While this in itself is reason to be concerned,there may be far reaching consequences to internet sales of pharmaceuticals. First, theconsumer may be receiving counterfeit drugs that contain little to none of the active ingredientor may even contain toxic adulterants. Second, the online pharmacies feed on the fears of theconsumer. Internet pharmacies responded to the 2009 swine flu pandemic by spammingconsumers with offers for Tamiflu. Flooding the market with flu medicine may lead to drugresistant viruses and create a more serious threat to the U. S. population. Shutting down the source of the spam is not the solution. In November 2008, theshutdown of the McColo network resulted in a subsequent 60% global reduction in the volumeof internet spam. However, within six months, the void created by the shutdown of McColo wasnot only filled, but exceeded. The PharmSpam project is focused on reducing preventable harm caused bypharmaceutical spam. The objectives of the PharmSpam project are to determine the feasibilityof achieving a long term reduction in pharmaceutical spam by breaking the supply chain at thesource of the drugs instead of the source of the spam. The second objective is to quantify theoutcomes of purchases from online pharmacies promoted by spam campaigns. The one yeargoals are to: 1. Identify the prominent pharmaceutical spam 'families' and the most commonly advertised drugs (target drugs) which will then be purchased on a monthly basis; 2. Perform physical and chemical analyses of the drugs to determine the hazards associated purchasing drugs from each of the 'families' and if the 'family' has a regular supplier or is opportunistic, contracting with the current low bidder; 3. Map the results of both legitimate and counterfeit sources in order to determine the feasibility of eliminating pharmaceutical spam at the supply source; 4. Disseminate the results to the appropriate federal agencies using existing collaborations and publish results in peer-reviewed journals; 5. Disseminate the results to the public through appropriate advocacy groups.
Nearly 50% of spam email is for pharmaceuticals offering everything from Viagra to Tamiflu, but the source of the drugs offered by internet pharmaceuticals is not obvious. Are they from legitimate pharmaceutical companies, stolen merchandise, counterfeits, or produced in a foreign country with more lenient regulations? The UAB PharmSpam project will attempt to answer these questions and their implications for public health.
