The internet and civil disobedience: examining a new form of e-health behaviour.

The use of the internet by healthcare consumers is growing at a phenomenal rate. It is now commonplace for consumers to make critical medical decisions using web-based health information and use the internet for prescription drug purchases and communication within disease-specific internet support groups. A corresponding trend is unmistakable: there is a clear and identifiable 'civil disobedience' by healthcare consumers and a growing number of benefits managers who use the internet for illegal prescription drug purchases as interpreted by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). This is seen not only in the lay public, but is being adopted by a growing army of government officials and policy-makers as well. This phenomenon carries important social and policy implications as the delivery of healthcare continues to defy national borders and policies.