Snapchat Requires NABP .Pharmacy Verification, Joins Search Engines, Twitter in Raising Standards for Pharmacy-related Advertisers

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (NABP®) is pleased to announce that Snapchat now requires United States and Canadian pharmacies that wish to advertise on its platform to be verified by NABP. Snapchat’s new advertising policy, found in the Pharmaceutical & Healthcare section, comes at a time when greater regulation of online pharmacies on social media is needed to prevent the sale of counterfeit drugs that may contain harmful substances, such as glue, chalk, and rat poison.

Snapchat joins Google, Bing, Yahoo!, and Twitter in requiring that pharmacy-related advertisers obtain NABP verification. The Association offers two verification products: the .Pharmacy Verified Websites Program, which verifies pharmacy-related websites worldwide, and the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites® program, which accredits US-based pharmacies with a web presence.

“As of earlier this year, Twitter was the most recent social media company to join the fight against fake medicines on the web by requiring .pharmacy verification, NABP’s newest online consumer safety program. We are pleased that Snapchat is also joining the effort to prevent the promotion of rogue websites to their users,” said NABP President Susan Ksiazek, RPh, DPh. “Our hope is that more social media sites follow these companies in putting patient safety first.”

Launched in 2014, the .Pharmacy Program is at the forefront of verifying the safety and legitimacy of pharmacy and pharmacy-related websites. Both Visa and Mastercard consider NABP a recognized third party for the verification of pharmacy merchants selling prescription drugs in a card-not-present environment.

Consumers who buy medicines from NABP-verified websites can be confident they are buying medicine from trustworthy, legitimate pharmacies. An easy way to know that a website has been verified by NABP is to look for the .pharmacy suffix at the end of the web address. A list of safe online pharmacies and related resources can be found on the Find a Safe Site section of www.safe.pharmacy.

As more online pharmacies continue to appear every day, NABP remains resolute on raising awareness about the dangers of illegal online drug sellers. NABP’s .Pharmacy Program seeks to protect the public health against the thousands of online pharmacies that operate illegally by providing verification of safe sites. For more information on the .Pharmacy Program and how to apply for a .pharmacy domain name, visit www.nabp.pharmacy/safe.

NABP is the independent, international, and impartial Association that assists its state member boards and jurisdictions for the purpose of protecting the public health.