Portland firm watchdogs online pharmacies for investigators and firms like Google

Like many on Social Security, Patricia Parks counts every dollar. So $20 a month is big money. That's how much she saved ordering online at a site called Global Pharmacy Canada.

Then she saw the warning from a downtown Portland company called LegitScript, calling her Web site a "rogue" pharmacy.

Without blood thinner, the Tigard woman is at risk for stroke. But these drugs come with no quality assurance. There's no telling if she gets the right drug at the correct dosage, whether it's outdated, made with tainted ingredients, or where it's manufactured.

"I'm so angry, I'm spitting tacks," said Parks, 79.

Her situation, and others like it, is why John Horton founded LegitScript in 2007 to monitor the murky world of online prescription drug sales. A 42-year-old former Multnomah County prosecutor and White House official, he says he's trying to ensure drug safety and truth in advertising.

Judging him by his enemies requires looking worldwide. His recent investigation posing as an illegal drug purveyor was blasted by its target in the Bahamas. In 2010, someone -- he thinks an Eastern European criminal network -- set up hundreds of porn sites in Horton's name as apparent payback.

"As far as rogue pharmacies, John took it to the next level," says Carmen Catizone, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. "He was able to show the extent of these networks and how they were masquerading as legitimate."

Cyber-drugs

The downtown Portland office of LegitScript looks like a typical startup, clusters of desks and lots of computer screens in a large open space with tall ceilings, cream-colored walls and plenty of windows. Bookshelves hold tomes on programming, data-mining and online philosophy such as, "Who owns the Internet?"

The idea to watchdog online prescription sales came to Horton while at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Hired in 2002, Horton focused on prescription drug abuse and online pharmacies.

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Portland firm watchdogs online pharmacies for investigators and firms like Google