The Royal Pharmaceutical Society in the UK is preparing a plan for authorized online pharmaceutical retailers to place a special logo on the site so that buyers know they can trust it.
That sounds like a nice idea until you realize how useless it's likely to be.
First of all, it's only for UK-based sites, and as the article makes clear, some of the problems are caused by people shopping around for cheaper drugs and finding them on foreign sites.
Second, a logo is pretty easy to copy. This is the problem Truste has faced for years. While they claim to protect consumers, the logo is often copied and just placed on sites. While you're supposed to be able to click through and make sure that the logo is legit, too many people either don't know to do so, or don't even know what they're looking for if they do click through.
It's admirable to try to protect people from fake or bad drugs purchased online, but it sounds like this particular plan is only going to make people think they're safer when they may not be.
Source: Techdirt
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