Run a search for online Viagra and you get a staggering 13 million search results, proof that online pharmacies are big business. But what role should Google play in protecting consumers from themselves in the quest for cheap medicines?

Google's legal eagles are taking action against dodgy pharmacists who have been taking advantage of the Adwords program. Michael Zwibelman, a lawyer at Google HQ, has said that rogue pharmacies were bad for users, legitimate pharmacies and "the entire e-commerce industry". 

The other day we discussed the rise of complaints about counterfeit goods purchased online, and whose responsibility it was. Personally I still think it that consumers are ultimately responsible for their own safety - and that by purchasing controlled medicines outside the normal procedures, they forfeit the protections offered by that process. 

That said, there is a difference between selling a drug - and selling an imitation drug made from potentially harmful substances, slightly riskier than a fake Fendi handbag. 

Is Google right to police the web? No - but it is right to police those using any of it's products. A complaint was filed at the U.S District Court in California by Google's lawyers that alleges one individual and 50 defendants violated the search engine's contract by not being verified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.

Every good blogpost should have a picture, so here's a still from a UK campaign that ran last year highlighting the dangers of purchasing medicine online.