MIAMI -- It's as easy as the click of a mouse to order prescription drugs online. Is it legal or are doctors and pharmacies putting their licenses on the line?

Channel 10 Problem Solver Jilda Unruh investigates a South Florida doctor, long-distance prescriptions and the law.

Jilda Unruh: Hello. Yes. I'm here to see Dr. Avello. (Security phone hangs up.)

Unruh: Who is Dr. Mario R. Avello? And why did someone at his Coral Gables home hang up on us? Well, according to this prescription bottle, Dr. Avello is the physician who prescribed 60 tablets of a powerful painkiller called hydrocodone over the internet. Just one problem -- Avello prescribed the meds for a man in Arkansas and Dr. Avello is not licensed to practice medicine in Arkansas.

Trey Gardner,Arkansas Board of Pharmacy: No, it's not legal. It's not a legitimate prescription. There was not a patient/physician relationship. A prescription, any medicine that is sent on a non-valid prescription is illegal.

Unruh: Trey Gardner is the assistant director of the Arkansas Board of Pharmacy. He's talking about the hydrocodone pills that were ordered on line by an employee of the ABC television station in Little Rock.

They were purchased through an internet site called Buymeds. The employee filled out a questionnaire and three days later the pills came in the mail.

Dr. Mark Riley/Arkansas Board of Pharmacy: We've got a problem with the Internet in that these prescriptions are filled out without a patient/pharmacist/doctor relationship at all.

Unruh: Dr. Mark Riley is director of the Arkansas Board of Pharmacy.

Dr. Riley: We feel it is ludicrous to think that you can diagnose a patient by answering a few questions on a pre-set form that actually guides you through the form to make sure you give the right answers so that you can get the medication.

Unruh: In a letter to Channel 10, Dr. Avello's attorney denied his client had violated Arkansas or Florida law. A spokesman for the Florida Board of Medicine told the Channel 10 Problem Solvers quote: "It is below the standard of care for a doctor to prescribe medication based upon an Internet questionnaire. Florida doctor's have been disciplined for this practice and one doctor had his license revoked."

Unruh: Dr. Avello is licensed in the state of Florida and to date, his license status, is clear of any disciplinary action. As for Buymeds, the Internet site? Officials never responded to our calls and e-mails seeking comment. But, in it's questionnaire, Buymeds clearly asks you to have consulted with your doctor and/or pharmacist. So what about the pharmacy that filled this prescription? Well, as we discovered, it's also located in South Florida. In part two of this story, see what we find out, when we show up and start asking questions.

Unruh: I'd like to ask you why you're sending prescriptions online to people you haven't met?

Anchor: You should know that the man in Arkansas who placed the order for pills already had a doctor's prescription for hydrocodone and used all his real contact and medical information on the Buymeds questionnaire. Also, since Jilda's Problem Solver Investigation began, Buymeds.com no longer takes prescription orders from the state of Arkansas.