Federal prosecutors have some new ammunition to wield against rogue Internet pharmacies: a new federal law that requires prescriptions for controlled substances to be based on face-to-face examinations between doctor and patient.

The law, known as the Ryan Haight Act, went into effect on April 19 and imposes sentences of up to 20 years for violators. It was named after a California teenager who died from an overdose of a painkiller he got online from a doctor he never saw. Pain, diet and psychiatric pills are all the rage on the Internet now, legal and drug experts say, and law enforcement officials intend to use the new law to snare illicit prescription-fillers of these highly addictive and dangerous drugs.

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