“Current Threats to American Patients from Counterfeiters,” March 7-8, 2016

“Current Threats to American Patients from Counterfeiters,” March 7-8, 2016

In a case currently in US courts, the Department of Justice alleges that CanadaDrugs.com sold $78 million worth of unapproved, mislabeled and counterfeit cancer drugs to doctors throughout the US between 2009 and 2012.  The CanadaDrugs.com case, which is one of several cases in recent years involving the sale of counterfeit and misbranded, imported medicines, establishes that drug importation is a significant threat to the American drug supply. Since 2012, the FDA has sent more than 1000 letters across all therapeutic areas to professionals who may have bought medications from known counterfeit drug sellers.

In March 2016, Partnership for Safe Medicines hosted a Congressional Briefing, “Current Threats to American Patients from Counterfeiters,” to update Congress about this wide-reaching problem, and on the impact counterfeit drug sellers may have had on their constituents.

Panel topics and speakers included:

• “The Insidious Path of Counterfeit Cancer Drugs from Turkey to Toledo:  How do these bad drugs get to our patients?” Tom Kubic, President & CEO, Pharmaceutical Security Institute and PSM Board Member [View PowerPoint]
• “Drug Importation: Maine’s Experience with Unreliable Foreign “Pharmacies”  2013-2014,” Jim Dahl, retired Assistant Director of FDA-OCI and PSM Board Member  [View PowerPoint]
• “Protecting Patients from Counterfeit Medicines,” Aaron Graham, Executive Director, Brand Safety & Security, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. [View PowerPoint]
• “Counterfeit Medicines: Threat to Patient Health and Safety,” John Clark, Vice President and Chief Security Officer at Pfizer, Inc. [View PowerPoint]