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Fifty percent of online pharmacies are not licensed, and a third lack privacy polices that protect patients' personal information, according to results of an analysis released Monday by PharmacyChecker.com.

PharmacyChecker, a newly created, subscription-based Web service, evaluated 12 popular Internet sites for purchasing prescription drugs.

"In general, the Mexican pharmacies are not licensed," said Dr. Tod Cooperman, president of White Plains, New York-based PharmacyChecker.

Mexico's Medsmex.com and Pharmacymex.com did not meet the Web site's licensing criteria and scored lowest overall in PharmacyChecker's ratings.

Two U.S. sites -- Clickmeds.com and Medzonline.com -- also failed to meet PharmacyChecker's definition of a licensed pharmacy.

In addition, a few of the Canadian sites that claimed to be licensed really weren't, the Web service discovered in checking with provincial regulators.

Canmedsondiscount.com failed to make the grade on licensing.

CanadaRx.com scored only a half check mark because it was deemed a "pharmacy intermediary," which fills orders through multiple pharmacies or an unrelated pharmacy. The rating service awards a lower rating to intermediaries because it cannot verify whether they use the same pharmacy or pharmacies to fill orders every time.

The online pharmacies evaluated also showed mixed results on other key criteria. A third of the sites don't require an original prescription, 33% lack an appropriate privacy policy, 42% don't provide a company address and phone number, and 17% do not guarantee the financial information patients provide online is secure using "SSL technology."

Cooperman launched PharmacyChecker to help Americans identify quality providers and compare drug prices from the sites it evaluates. He is also the founder of ConsumerLabs.com, a company that evaluates dietary supplements and nutritional products.

In general, "there are a few that really check out fine and plenty that don't," he told Reuters Health.

Three Canadian pharmacy Web sites, Adv-care.com, CrossBorderPharmacy.com and RxNorth.com, received PharmacyChecker's top overall rating of five check marks. So did two U.S. sites, CVS.com and Drugstore.com.

Another feature PharmacyChecker offers is the ability to compare prices of 1,500 popular brand name drugs offered by the sites it evaluates.

Canadian prices were 49% lower, on average, than U.S. prices, based on the sites it has rated that require a prescription. That excludes shipping charges.

"Even in the U.S., it pays to shop around," Cooperman noted.

U.S. sites that don't require a prescription charge 54% more, on average, than licensed sites that do require a prescription, the rating service found.

Prices on the Mexican sites, which typically don't require a prescription, were generally the same as those offered by the U.S. sites that require a prescription.

PharmacyChecker, which is offering consumers an annual subscription for $19.95, will be updated continually to add new Web sites and reflect current drug prices, Cooperman said.

The company does not take a position on whether U.S. patients should purchase drugs from foreign countries. "We're just putting all the information in their hands," he said.