At one bustling forum for e-pharmacy affiliates, one thread from a few weeks ago discussed the trendiest, top-selling drugs selling online today. Forum users decided, almost unanimously, that tramadol, "phen” fioricet, and soma are the most popular.

When I opened my mail last week, I found a newsletter from my vet, the wonderful Dr. Bloom at Presidio Way Vet Hospital.

The flyer paid homage to the fact that February is Dental Health Month- something important to pets like my own, who happen to be products of impractical breeding practices.

There's no question Google and other search engines (think Yahoo) make a lot of money advertising--even in a recession.

But Google can't just let anyone advertise -- its rulebook, for example, explicitly bans advertisers that use "deceptive, illegal, unethical, false or misleading practices." Moreover, Google's Online Pharmacy Qualification Process lays out specific rules on which online drugstore sites are allowed to advertise. It says, for instance, that sellers of online prescription drugs in the U.S. and Canada must register with the PharmacyChecker Verification Program.

But is PharmacyChecker a strong enough verification process?

We are 14 journalists training at the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, which is dedicated to training students in investigative reporting at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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