The government is partnering with internet registries to stop illicit opioid sales.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration recently announced the United States government will be launching a new pilot program designed to help reduce the availability of unapproved opioids on the internet. The agencies are working with several internet registries to monitor and possibly seek action against those sites that are selling illegal substances.
The FDA sent a warning letter to all websites it discovered currently selling illicit opioids online and is requiring a response within a specific timeframe. The sites that received a warning will need to permanently remove their illegal products. If a reply is not received or the companies refuse to do so, the federal agency will inform participating internet registries who will be granted the authority to suspend or block domain names, rendering the sites unusable.
According to the government, the program will last 120 days at the end of which it will evaluate the measure’s effectiveness to determine whether it will continue to be used. At this time, the agency has not indicated whether it intends for the program to be ongoing.
The Food and Drug Administration sent out the following information in a news release:
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) are launching a 120-day pilot to help reduce the availability of unapproved opioids illegally offered for sale online.”
“Under the pilot, the FDA will notify internet registries that are participating in the pilot – Neustar, Verisign and Public Interest Registry – when the agency sends a warning letter to a website operator and the website operator does not respond adequately within the required timeframe. The internet registries will review the FDA’s notifications and assess whether to take further voluntary action, including possible domain name suspensions or blocks. The NTIA, a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce, responsible for telecommunications and information policy issues, will work with the internet registries involved in the pilot, and partner with the FDA to assess its impact.”
“Cooperation between the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Commerce, with the addition of the pilot program, will help stop the online sale of illicit opioids and combat our country’s deadly addiction crisis,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “Stopping abuse of illegal opioids, including those sold online, has been one of President Trump’s top health priorities. The men and women of FDA have worked tirelessly over the years with the private sector and federal partners, like NTIA, to fight illegal online opioid sales.”
“The trusted notifier pilot program is another new policy tool in President Trump’s fight to end the opioid crisis,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “The Commerce Department is eager to work with our partners at HHS, FDA, and the domain name registries to remove a major channel for the sale of illicit opioids, which will help save many American lives.”
Sources:
Pilot program aims to curb online opioid sales
FDA pilot program aims to slow unauthorized opioid sales online
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