Latest news (8th May 2014) on payment changes the requirement for prescriptions is on this update blog post.
Latest news (10th December 2014) on the closure of two of IHP’s sites is on this blog post.
The below is the complete text of an email received from Inhouse Pharmacy at 10:14am BST on the 6th May, responding to a query to clarify the situation for UK users. I have emailed them back to triple-check this applies to UK users as this is obviously a canned response and may have been sent out instead of a more specific UK option.
As of 7th May, some people have received shipping confirmation from IHP so this advice may be inaccurate. Others have also received a slight variation on this mail stating that they will continue to process orders for long standing customers without a prescription.
Hello
Times are changing for Online Pharmacies, and in the last week of April 2014 some significant changes have taken place. Visa and Mastercard are targeting Online Pharmacies due to lobbying from Drug Companies and BigPharma in the US. This is out of our control and failing to supply a valid prescription could result in our business being denied access to their payment facilities. Visa, MasterCard and Amex who will not tolerate their names being brought into ‘disrepute’ – as supplying meds without a valid prescription is unacceptable to them.
The site www.inhousepharmacy.vu has been made a one payment option only – that is ECheck (an electronic check) and not a credit card. This is only available to residents in the US.
For us to have credit card payment options available to you, we have had no choice but to change our other sites such as www.inhousepharmacy.biz and www.inhousepharmacy-europe.com to be prescription only.
When you place your order with www.inhousepharmacy.biz please follow the prescription directions that appear in the payment checkout page. If an order is supplied without a prescription this may result in your order being delayed or cancelled. Amex and Visa are accepted, but MasterCard is not yet available.
Sincerely
(Name removed)
Customer Services
Email: customerservices@inhousepharmacy.vu
Website: www.inhousepharmacy.vu
Phone: USA: 800-868-9064 UK: 0808 234 7254 International: +1-800-868-9064
Does anyone know if they actually follow up on the prescriptions?
The prescription requirement was already in place since 2010 (was written in the FAQ section) but was never enforced. I guess VISA had a lawyer look at the website and realized that the prescription requirement was just a smokescreen. If anyone asks about this on the phone or email they WILL only provide you with canned answers, but I have a feeling that they would ship anyway. But the company would not want that to be a public knowledge, so the only way you know is just do it and see what happens.
This issue with credit card networks has been going on for at least four years already. Now they are about to lose a large percentage of its clientele over having to hang on to a few.
The company could have been proactive in exploring other options such as international money orders and foreign drafts, as well as bitcoins.