Mr. Satya Nadella
Chief Executive Officer
Microsoft Corporation

Dear Mr. Nadella,

Censoring information on Microsoft’s Bing about how people can most safely import medicine for personal use is wrong.

We, the undersigned, urge you to remove the misplaced warnings on Bing against PharmacyChecker.com and its blog. Our purpose is not to promote PharmacyChecker, but for you to recognize that PharmacyChecker provides consumers online pharmacy verification and drug price information that helps them avoid dangerous rogue pharmacy websites and afford medicine they may otherwise go without. There is nothing dangerous about information from PharmacyChecker – unless one is a drug company wishing to maintain the status quo of Americans paying the highest drug prices in the world.

Consumers who look on Bing to find affordable medication should be able to find PharmacyChecker without a red-box warning that not only blocks the link but scares them away from the website. These warnings represent a form of misplaced censorship and mislead consumers in a dangerous manner. Independent research has shown that Bing’s online pharmacy warnings policy increases the chance of a consumer buying a counterfeit drug.

We understand that Microsoft places its warnings against pharmacy websites that the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) places on its "Not Recommended List.” However, you should know and understand that NABP’s internet pharmacy initiatives are often funded by drug companies and promoted by large U.S. pharmacy interests that view lower cost foreign pharmacies as unwanted competition. These interests actively oppose efforts to lower drug prices in America and access to lower cost, imported medicines.

The NABP’s list is supposed to protect patients from dangerous rogue pharmacy sites, and many of the sites on that list are dangerous. However, in late 2019, NABP brazenly added PharmacyChecker.com and even its news blog (www.pharmacycheckerblog.com) to the list. It did so despite the fact that PharmacyChecker.com, which has been operating since 2002, is a legal informational website in the United States that helps consumers protect their health and safety when seeking lower prices on medication from licensed pharmacies both within the U.S. and in other countries. Its pharmacy verification program, once headed by a former Director of Pharmacy Quality Assurance with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy, is directed by her mentee, a licensed U.S. pharmacist based in Boston.

Tens of millions of Americans do not fill prescriptions each year because of high domestic drug prices. That forces many to look online for more affordable options from Canada and other countries. While personal importation of medication from pharmacies outside the U.S. may be considered illegal, the U.S. government never prosecutes individuals for doing so (as this would be unconscionable). We do not all believe that having to personally import prescription medicines, using online pharmacies or otherwise, is the best solution for high drug prices in America, but we all recognize that it can be done safely and is a lifeline for many. To that effect, PharmacyChecker plays a valuable role in protecting consumers' safety.

Mr. Nadella, for the sake of public health, free speech, and fairness to American consumers who cannot afford their medications, take down the censorious warning on Bing against PharmacyChecker.com.