Best U.S. Online Pharmacies That Provide Online Prescriptions
How We Rate Them
Our expert consultants have many years experience in the pharmaceutical industry. In the United States it is only legal to manufacture prescription drugs under strict Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations. It is only legal to sell prescription drugs through pharmacies licensed by the state(s) in which they are located, and which meet strict state and federal standards.
When you buy a prescription drug from a licensed pharmacy, you should always receive exactly the drug prescribed. If you buy the same drug from a different pharmacy, the only difference should be price.
We have created a list of unbiased ratings of the top online pharmacies that do not charge for the service of prescribing the medication, although they do, of course, charge for the medication itself.
Some pharmacies operate under several names, and have multiple websites, all with the same prices. With a company like this, we include only one of their web sites in our ratings. We've summarized our findings in reports that cover 6 important areas.
We do this to help you reduce the stress of an online prescription purchase. We hope you find this information helpful. Criteria for ratings are given below.
How We Calculate the Ratings
These ratings are the personal opinions of our management. They are based on an examination of each web site and on personal experience as a "secret shopper" during live calls or emails to each company. We gather information and express opinions. Welcome to your free consumer information site. We help you find the lowest price prescription drugs at the best online pharmacies. We are not a pharmacy, we do not fill prescriptions, we do not recommend that you buy any specific drug, and we do not give medical advice. We leave the decision to you and the doctor giving you your prescription as to whether the medication is right for you.
Your experience and/or opinion of any listed company may be different from ours. For instance, prices fluctuate frequently. If they've changed since our last update, or if there's a typo, you may notice a difference.
How to Use Our Pharmacy Ratings Reports
All the sites we rate as best report that they are located in the US and licensed in their state. They have a toll-free customer service phone number and/or address on their web site so you can contact them (you'd be amazed at how many pharmacies have only an email link - makes you wonder why). None charge for the medical consultation required for a prescription.
The only difference between the pharmacies we rate "Best" should be price. A pharmacy may not sell a drug in quantities of 5 pills at all, but may offer the best price for 10 pills, and a high price for 20.
If you don't use this site, it can be time consuming and get very complicated to find the best deal for the exact number and dosage you want. So we've made it easy!
Click on your drug of choice in the left column, and you'll see a summary page with the best total price for each available quantity of each dose. Since all of the pharmacies listed on our site are highly rated, all you have to do is click on the one with the lowest price. You'll link right to the pharmacy to place your order.
If you want to see the details of the comparisons, there are links on the summary pages. Not all pharmacies offer medications in every possible quantity; the ones shown in each detailed comparison are those of our best rated pharmacies that do offer that quantity.
Guide to Ratings System
Five stars is the highest rating for each category. It means that a company was among the very best anywhere for that feature. One star is the lowest rating. We only show the best in our ratings page and do not burden you with the rest.
Excellent, the best of category = 5 points
Good, but lacking certain key features = 4 points
Fair, needs improvement = 3 points
Poor, not good enough for our needs = 2 points
Very Poor, better to avoid = 1 point
For our Overall Ratings, we totaled all points for the 6 categories. With 5 possible points for each category, the maximum point total for any site is 30 points. Only a few sites scored a perfect 30 points. We won't bother to comment on the other stores.
How We Rate: Prices
We compared total price (medicine, shipping, consultation) for each quantity of each drug the site offers. To be considered "Excellent" a site must offer the lowest total price for at least one quantity of one medicine and all other prices must be competitive.
How We Rate: Selection
We compared how many of the most popular medications each pharmacy offers. To be considered "Excellent" a pharmacy must offer at least 14 of the most popular prescription drugs.
How We Rate: Consultation Charge
To be included in our list, a pharmacy must offer free medical consultations.
How We Rate: Contact Information
To be considered "Excellent" a pharmacy must be located in the United States and provide at least a toll-free customer service number or address.
How We Rate: Shipping Policy
To be considered "Excellent" a pharmacy must ship to most states.
How We Rate: Customer Service/Anti-Spam Policy
We contacted each pharmacy as a "secret shopper" to assess their responsiveness. We asked the same questions. To be considered "Excellent", a site had to reply promptly, indicating good customer service. In addition, the site must have a strong anti-spam policy to be acceptable to us. Too many online pharmacies inundate you with spam.
Legal Notice
THE DECISION TO PURCHASE MEDICATION ONLINE IS ONE TO BE MADE BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR DOCTOR, WHETHER THE DOCTOR IS YOUR FAMILY DOCTOR OR ONE WHO GIVES YOU AN ONLINE PRESCRIPTION. BY USING THIS SITE, YOU AGREE THAT WE HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY TO DETERMINE WHETHER ANY PRESCRIPTION IS RIGHT FOR YOU. NO GUARANTEES, WRITTEN OR VERBAL, ARE MADE, AND NO LIABILITIES ARE ASSUMED, FOR ANY MEDICAL ADVICE YOU MAY BE GIVEN, OR AS TO THE VALIDITY OR ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THIS WEBSITE. WHILE WE UPDATE THE SITE ON A REGULAR BASIS, COMPANIES CAN CHANGE POLICIES, PRICES, AND MEDICATION INFORMATION AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE, MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO BE PERFECTLY ACCURATE AND UP-TO-DATE AT ALL TIMES. WHILE PRECAUTIONS HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO PREVENT THEM, WE ARE ALSO NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS OR OMISSIONS. IF YOU DISCOVER A MISTAKE OR OUTDATED MATERIAL ON THIS SITE, PLEASE EMAIL US IMMEDIATELY SO THAT WE CAN INVESTIGATE AND CORRECT IT.
How We Get Paid
Maintaining an information rich, useful, high quality web site is expensive. To be able to offer our services free of charge, without the possible bias of pharmacy advertising, we must accept affiliate fees from pharmacies that sell products to our customers. Affiliate programs are offered by virtually all online pharmacies (see some other pharmacies we evaluated), and are not considered as a factor in our ratings. Online pharmacies charge the same prices whether customers come to them directly or through a referring site.
Buying Decisions Are Your Responsibility
Responsibility for making a buying decision is yours and yours alone. You can ask the pharmacies and the doctors who are prescribing medications for additional information relating to your particular situation or health history. Educating yourself is the best way to recognize a good merchant and a good product at a good price. Answer all medical questions truthfully and completely, and be sure to inform your family doctor about the medication you've ordered. This will help insure that the medication is right for you.
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