Title: Online Pharmacies: Empowering the Consumer Word Count: 567 Summary: This article is about purchasing medicines online. With the advent of faster Internet technology, a consumer can now buy drugs online in just a click of the mouse. Online shopping is now the trendy, efficient way to procure medicines and other health products. Keywords: buy drugs online Article Body: If your computer has an Internet connection and you have access to a credit card number, a prescription for nearly any medication could soon be on its way to your home. With the latest developments in information and internet technology, a consumer can now buy drugs online in just a click of the mouse. Thanks to online shopping, people have been empowered in terms of their choice and ability to procure medicines and other health products. Consumers can now easily buy drugs online. One of the advantages of doing shopping online is being able to maximize the use of the Internet to find the best deals available for the products and services that one needs. Simply type a name into a search engine and in just a few clicks, a consumer could be ordering a drug for losing weight or fighting depression. The drug will be made available in the fastest way possible, sparing the buyer the time-consuming effort of going to several drugstores to canvass the most reasonable price. One would also be able to avoid any discomfort that comes with asking about so-called “medicines for private use” in public drugstores. These online pharmacies also help remove the inconvenience and cost of standing in line and spending gas to travel by car to the local drugstore. While most internet pharmacies only sell prescription drugs, some online drugstores do not require a pre-written prescription. A tie-up with local hospitals and clinics allow these online medicine vendors to get the prescription straight from the doctor via email, fax, or teleconferencing. A growing number of customers now order drugs from such pharmacies to avoid the inconvenience of visiting a doctor’s clinic. Many of these online pharmacies actually employ their own in-house physicians who, in turn, offer their services to a patient who communicates with them online for consultation and to get a prescription. Like other health care promotions on the Internet, the availability of prescription drugs via online pharmacies offers potential benefits to consumers, including convenience and value. Once consumers buy drugs online, they will be given easy connection to a world wide web of reputable companies, products and price comparisons. It also gives them access to those that aren't so reputable. They can even reach some doctors who prescribe medicines over the Internet. Any time a consumer plans to order medicines online, they have to make sure that they are getting quality products from reputable sources based on a prescription from their own personal physician. Whether a consumer wants to buy drugs online for arthritis and osteoarthritis pain medications such as Soma, Tramadol, Buspar or Viagra; or if he or she is more interested in finding chronic pain and pain prevention medications such as Ultram and Fioricet --- a consumer can now buy those drugs online. However, one should exercise caution before planning to buy drugs online. Specifically, it’s important to determine whether one needs to see a physician before ordering medication. Before a consumer makes a decision to buy drugs online, it is always best to consult a doctor about one’s medical condition and appropriate treatment or medicines. As the demand for and the cost of prescription drugs rise, many consumers have turned to the Internet to purchase drugs. Many such pharmacies are, in some ways, similar to community pharmacies, although the main difference is the method by which the medications are requested and received.