LegitScript review: Not as legit as they look 10

These complaints are typically submitted by rogue Internet pharmacy operators that have been shut down by LegitScript. The complaint supports this inference, as it implies that the poster believes it is acceptable to import medicines that are prescription-only into their country of destination without a prescription, which is illegal on two counts (importation and lack of a prescription requirement) and violates drug safety rules designed to protect patients.

LegitScript encourages any rogue Internet pharmacy operator to contact us for an explanation of why their website was designated as "rogue" by LegitScript or shut down by the Registrar. However, we stand by our assessments of no-prescription-required online pharmacies as "rogue."

aNd I agree with the complaint above

Well, I am the guy "on the other side". Don't meddle with any narcotics or mind altering substances, but I do certain things, which our legislators don't like that much anyway. So it was no wonder that one day LegitScripts came after me with a license to kill :) This made me to do some research over my adversaries from LegitScripts. Wow! They appeared to be not so legit.They perform huge job finding and monitoring thousands of online pharmacies. They watch the Internet and reply to any comment made over them. But all this big job requires big money - renting of the office, wages to workers, etc. So, who pays for this? The first answer which comes to mind is that US pharmacy lobby does. Multi-billion US pharmacy industry is now under the strong pressure from Indian and Chinese generic manufacturers. Despite the fact that using cheap drugs is literally matter of death or life for many poor people in the third world and a matter of huge savings even for relatively rich people in the "first world", US pharmacy lobby does not bother about human lives but their pocket only. Let people die, but they want to shut down their competitors at any cost.And such company like LegitScript is pefect choice doing the dirty job for them. They act in extremely aggressive and abusive way, this is what Jews call "hutzpa". They often deliberately lie about their "rights" (unfortunately many of domain registrars subdued). They make registrars trust that their claims are backed by FDA or ICANN, while FDA or ICANN are never in fact involved, all "rights" they delegated to LegitScript is just a couple of EXPLANATORY letters and all this fuss they make all around is coming exclusively from this small, privately owned rogue company. The trick is that they do not provide any official papers but encourage registrars to suspend the domains on their own risk without any court orders. Unfortunately, there were no big lawsuits against registrars so far, but if it come to such lawsuit domain owner has good chances to win.Yes, Legitscript destroyed many narcotics sites, if they stopped with this, I would be the first one to applaud. But they continued their aggression all over the world. I checked many non-US pharmacies with them. I checked websites, which have nothing to do with United States, which do not sell to United States and do not offer any controlled substances indeed, and what was the result? In the best case this poor domestic online pharmacy is labelled as "unapproved" (why the hell Indian or Thai pharmacy needs an approvement from some privately owned US company?). In the worst case this far-away website is marked as "rogue" and is in LegitScript hit list. As of February 2013, LegitScript's website indicated that LegitScript had approved over 250 online pharmacies as meeting LegitScript's standards, and documented over 48, 000 "rogue" online pharmacy websites. Does anyone really believes that only 250 online pharmacies over the world are "white" and 50 000of others are ruled by "organized crime" like Legitscripts labels everybody who oppose them? In order to be "approved" the pharmacy must be US-based pharmacy. Very racist and xenofobic approach, not to mention that after this we cannot rely on legitscript evaluations and cannot trust them indeed.Great, so now you think that they are merely US pharm giants lobbyists? Heh, it appeared to be not so simple. I was really wondered to find some of definitely "rogue"pharmacies to be NOT IN THEIR LIST INDEED!? Ok, maybe they are too busy and didn't noticed all Evil over the Internet?I took one of these rogue pharmacies, which obviously deals with DEA Schedule III controlled drugs - steroid.com and REPORTED it to legitscripts. Just nothing happened. I waited for one month and reported once again, but also to no avail. After waiting some more time and reporting it for the third time and repeating the same actions with some other pharmacies, I realized that I am just wasting my own time - they didn't "rate" any of the reported websites.Even more, I found information that LegitScript fraudulently and covertly registered over a hundred domain names for online pharmas using a single registrar and then turns around and publishes a defamatory paper claiming they (LegitScript) "discovered" that INTERNET BS is a safe haven for illegal drug pharmacy domain name registration. As a result Internet.bs got scared and now is fully "legitscripts compliant", i.e. completely obey all their unlawful orders.This made me to go with another idea. Yes, they receive money from US pharmacy lobby. But from the other side they MIGHT BE connected to organized crime that they claim to fight so desperately. I cannot prove this in the court, this is just my personal conclusion. But I was persuaded that all their"struggle" for the "safety of US customers" is nothing else but shutting down competitors on illegal pill market. Just like Bloods vs Crips, lol.

They are fakes. They give bad reviews on legitimate companies and steer you to their own bogus sites. BEWARE

LegitScript – Not So Legit?

On March 3, 2010, in Online Pharmacy Verification Services, by Tod Cooperman, MD, President, PharmacyChecker.com, and Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com

A firm called Legit Script (LegitScript.com) claims to be protecting people by labeling legitimate Canadian and other non-U.S. pharmacies as “Unapproved” or “Rogue.” This serves the big pharmaceutical interests but not the American consumer. More than that, its founder, John Horton, appears to have exploited his former government position to establish LegitScript.com for his own gain.

[UPDATE 9/16/2010: See “Call for Investigation of John Horton, President of LegitScript, for Possible Government Ethics Violations”]

The Set Up:

In 2007, John Horton worked in the Bush White House as Deputy Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). As Horton’s LinkedIn page (accessed 3/3/2010) states:

“I served as the primary staff person responsible for advising the “Drug Czar” and coordinating federal policy on several issues, including prescription drug-related issues (including Internet pharmacy policy) and several chemical control issues. I authored the Administration’s National Synthetic Drug Control Strategy and co-authored the President’s National Drug Control Strategy in the years from 2002 until 2007.”

Congress had called for a report from ONDCP to propose a “strategy to stop advertisements that provide information about obtaining over the Internet drugs…without the use of a lawful prescription” (Our emphasis). Moreover, Congress’ request was limited in scope to controlled substances. Horton, as the chief staff person on this assignment, apparently switched the focus of the report from preventing access to controlled medicines without prescriptions (with which PharmacyChecker fully agrees) to denying Americans access to any type of medicine, even with a valid prescription, if coming from a Canadian pharmacy. The absurdity of this switch is that reputable licensed Canadian pharmacies require prescriptions and won’t even sell controlled substances to Americans. We believe this switch was encouraged by big pharmaceutical interests, who make less money when drugs are purchased at lower cost outside the U.S. To achieve their purpose, the report took aim at search engines as well as PharmacyChecker.com. The ONDCP’s paper stated:

“Both Google and Yahoo use a third-party system called PharmacyChecker.com (located at www.PharmacyChecker.com) to verify whether websites seeking to advertise an online pharmacy are legitimate. However, PharmacyChecker has approved several websites from Canada that may be operating lawfully in Canada, but offer prescription drugs to United States consumers…”

The paper noted that “not all VIPPS pharmacies appear to be recognized in the PharmacyChecker system.” [VIPPS is the verification program of the National Boards of Pharmacy in the U.S. and excludes Canadian pharmacies from membership.] The paper goes onto to draw the baseless conclusion that, “For all these reasons, PharmacyChecker is not an adequate, reliable verification system…”

Approving safe, lawful Canadian pharmacies which require prescriptions certainly does not make PharmacyChecker.com “inadequate” or “unreliable.” Quite the contrary. Nevertheless, the paper lays out the plan that we believe Horton hatched, promoted and attempted to execute for the past three years:

“The DEA, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and/or ONDCP will meet with the major Internet advertising services (Google, Yahoo and others) to encourage voluntary action such that only online pharmacies in compliance with Federal and State laws are advertised through the major Internet advertising services. Search engines will be requested to voluntarily adopt standards that comply and encourage consumer compliance with Federal and State laws and regulations, and Boards of Pharmacy standards. This will be done in consultation with the State Boards of Pharmacy through the NABP.”

As we see it, Horton was setting the stage for his company, LegitScript.com, to use this “U.S. only” standard to displace PharmacyChecker.com as the leading certifier of online pharmacies and to pressure the search engines into blocking advertising of lower cost pharmacies in Canada and elsewhere. While Horton was a government employee, on March 20, 2007 his company’s domain name legitscript.com was registered: http://www.networksolutions.com/whois-search/legitscript.com. On April 16, 2007, Horton’s government office submitted the paper quoted above to Congress and, having planted the seed, Horton immediately left office and registered LegitScript as a for-profit company in Virginia and, later, as a not-for-profit entity in his home state of Oregon.

This chronology indicates, at least to us, that Horton manipulated and exploited his position as Deputy Director of a White House office for his personal gain. This raises a question in our view of whether his conduct violated The US Office of Government Ethics’ Misuse of Position policy which states that “Executive branch employees must not use their public office for their own or another’s private gain.”

Misleading Reports:

Horton apparently approached the search engines and others to promote the use of LegitScript and/or VIPPS in place of PharmacyChecker.com (and it’s not surprising that VIPPS now endorses LegitScript as a reputable verification service). Perhaps rebuffed by these companies, Horton issued two reports, each focused on a different search engine, and each claiming that over 80% of pharmacy advertisers found were “illegal” or “rogue” when, in fact, most of these were licensed foreign pharmacies selling real medicine and requiring prescriptions.

From his trumped up research, Horton went on to make the outrageous accusation that search engines were “sponsors” of rogue Internet pharmacies tied to “foreign (mainly Russian, Eastern Europe, and Chinese) organized criminal networks that are thought to fund other illicit activities including, in some cases, terrorism.” There is little doubt that LegitScript.com’s intention was to embarrass the search engines and cast doubt on the PharmacyChecker.com Verification Program.

Horton’s Real Business:

Despite LegitScript’s efforts, traffic to its site has been scant — less than 900 unique visitors per month in January 2010, compared to 104, 000 per month to PharmacyChecker.com (http://siteanalytics.compete.com/legitscript.com/). However, as we see it, Horton’s purpose was not to help consumers find safe and affordable pharmacies, but to help deny Americans, especially the uninsured, access to lower priced medications. He has revealed his purpose in several ways: He dissolved LegitScript as a non-profit organization in Oregon on April 8th, 2009 and then registered LegitScript as a for-profit LLC on August 17th, 2009. At the same time, records at the Oregon Secretary of State Corporation Division show that Horton registered a firm called Evergreen Government Relations, giving the same address as LegitScript, apparently expecting to cash in on his government connections and influence on the behalf of corporate clients.* A week earlier, on August 10th 2009, he abandoned his registration at the U.S. Trademark Office to use “LegitScript Certified” as a certification mark for Internet pharmacies. Working for companies to get government agencies to pressure search engines and domain registers is where the action is for John Horton.

Making Money:

LegitScript.com adamantly denies that it is a “front for big PhRMA” and claims that it is funded by its employees. But unlike pharmacy verification groups like VIPPS and PharmacyChecker.com, it does not charge pharmacies a fee for its verification service. So where does its revenue come from, or where does Horton get the money to fund it? The website says it offers “market research reports” regarding the Internet pharmacy and online pharmaceuticals markets. And who might be the customers of such “research”? We think it’s fair to assume that its big pharma, including big US pharmacies. LegitScript.com may not expect to make money from its verification program, and it doesn’t care because its money may come from elsewhere.

Be On the Look Out:

If LegitScript.com releases other “research reports, ” keep in mind John Horton’s real agenda. And if search engines exclude safe, low cost pharmacies from advertising (and one recently did) or, worse yet, block them from appearing at all, we believe that LegitScript.com and John Horton, serving his masters, may have had a hand in it.

We at PharmacyChecker.com think that shutting down “rogue pharmacies” that sell narcotics, or any drug, without a prescription is right. LegitScript’s efforts in that direction are commendable. But shutting down access by Americans to safe and affordable prescription medication is bad policy, unethical and unfair; and using government position and influence to get this done seems a misuse of power. These appear, however, to be the tactics of LegitScript.

Legit? We think not.

http://pharmacycheckerblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Request-for-Investigation-of-John-Horton-for-Possible-Legal-and-Ethics-Violations-While-Associate-Deputy-Director-of-the-White-House-Office-of-National-Drug-Control-UPLOAD.pdf

It´s completely obvious that LegitScript is working for Big Pharma.
Why would a tiny non-profit organization in Portland spend millions of dollars on consumer safety ?
Why would they refuse to disclose where most of their funding comes from unless they have something to hide?
Follow the money trail. always.

Currently criminal defamation proceedings are going on against LEGITSCRIPT LLC, John Horton (President and CEO Legitscript) and Emily Emanuel (COO Legitscript) at the court of the Hon. Judicial Magistrate First Class, Pune, India. Based on the criminal complaints against the crime accused Legitscript, John Horton and Emily Emanuel, Police Inspector (Crime), Vimantal Police Station, Pune City, Maharashtra, India started the criminal investigation under the provisions of section 499 & 500 of Indian Penal Code along with section 66 of Information Technology Act. They may face two-year jail term in Indian jail if convicted.So far number of warrants have been issued against the crime accused Legitscript, John Horton and Emily Emanuel however they have not appeared nor co-operated in this criminal investigation. More updates at http://www.policenoticeagainstlegitscript.com/

Guys Have a look :Currently criminal defamation proceedings are going on against LEGITSCRIPT LLC, John Horton (President and CEO Legitscript) (email : johnhorton@legitscript.com and Emily Emanuel (COO Legitscript) ( emily.emanuel@legitscript.com) at the COURT OF THE HONORABLE Judicial Magistrate First Class, PUNE, India.
For more details visit http://www.policenoticeagainstlegitscript.com/

There is a lot going on in this space. And what I haven't seen anyone talk about here, is non-pharmacy dietary supplement industry that legit script is now advising online merchants on as well as advertising platforms. I've been on the other side of this, and once your dietary supplement ends up on their db, it's pretty much game over for any advertising with the likes of google adwords. Even if say, you're selling a herb called Gingko, which you never sell to Korea, but it's got some restrictions in Korea, eventually your product will be flagged on their system. And granted this is valid, but it's the way in which this info rolls out as a result that is challenging.

its extortion they want several thousand dollars a month to verify certifvications that we already have been isssued by the government. Do contractors, doctors, dental providers need to pay more to verify their licenses. So if you dont have the money you cant help people. My attorney thinks we can sue them for anti trust