Get the Best From the Web
You see an ad on TV for a new drug or read about an intriguing new procedure for osteoporosis that might help your mother — so as 100 million Americans do every year, you turn to the Web to do some research. And quickly get overwhelmed.

When perusing any one of the approximately 20,000 health Web sites, check first who's behind it, says John Mack, president of the watchdog Internet Healthcare Coalition. The most reliable ones are sponsored by government agencies or reputable medical institutions (say, the Mayo Clinic). A good starting point: the Department of Health and Human Services' free site, Healthfinder, whose content has been carefully screened. To learn about cutting-edge developments, look at CenterWatch and Acurian, both of which can send you free e-mails about new government and private clinical trials and recently approved drugs in your areas of interest. For other pharmacological information, Drugs.com details a drug's uses, compounds and possible interactions. To buy drugs online, make sure a site is certified by the North American Pharmacy Accreditation Commission. (Pillbot.com is one, and you can buy generics, too.) Finally, to protect your privacy, avoid giving your name to any site unless you have to.