Interview Spotlight: Building Pharmaceutical Anti-Counterfeiting Programs
Dr. Frances Richmond from the University of Southern California (USC) School of Pharmacy and Lew Kontnik of Amgen are the organizers of the upcoming “Building Pharmaceutical Anti-Counterfeiting Programs” course, which will take place on Nov. 18 at USC.
Dr. Frances Richmond from the University of Southern California (USC) School of Pharmacy and Lew Kontnik of Amgen are the organizers of the upcoming “Building Pharmaceutical Anti-Counterfeiting Programs” course, which will take place on Nov. 18 at USC.
Last week, they shared with us some of the information they plan to cover during the one-day course regarding the global issue of counterfeit drugs and medical products.
The pair believes—as we do here at the Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM)—that some of the largest threats to American patients when it comes to counterfeits are the legitimacy of medicines purchased online and the possibility of drug importation from other countries. To help counter these threats, Kontnik noted the importance of collaboration between pharmaceutical manufacturers, “law enforcement and other agencies to deter, detect and disrupt counterfeiting,” a topic he’ll address at length on Nov. 18th.
For her part, Dr. Richmond will discuss a topic often overlooked in the conversation about of counterfeit drugs—medical device counterfeiting. Richmond told us that while counterfeit medical devices are less of a concern in the United States, counterfeit devices manufactured outside of the United States. can end up in the hands of American consumers as products are bought or sold from overseas, adding that a mere “two percent of imports are inspected at the borders.”
Read our full interview with Dr. Richmond and Lew Kontnik to learn more about counterfeit medical devices and other pressing issues in the counterfeit drug space. As always, you can find a variety of resources to help consumers protect themselves from counterfeit drugs on our Web site, SafeMedicines.org.