August 26, 2024: Counterfeit prescription pills made of fentanyl may also contain a drug used in executions
Domestic News
Police busted a pill press operation in Colorado. Researchers have found pentobarbital in counterfeit prescription pills.
On August 21, National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day, law enforcement in Colorado busted an illicit fentanyl pill press operation in an Arapahoe County residence.
Researchers with the National Drug Early Warning System warned that pentobarbital, a short-acting barbiturate used in executions and for euthanasia, has been found mixed with fentanyl and other ingredients in counterfeit oxycodone or alprazolam tablets. This news is just another reason people should always get their pills from a genuine pharmacy.
![Denver-CO-pill-press-August-2024 Law enforcement in hazmat suits bent over a many pill press outside on the street.](https://www.safemedicines.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Denver-CO-pill-press-August-2024.jpg)
Two officers with a pill press during the August 21 operation. (Source: Denver Police Department)
International News
Suspected counterfeit cancer medicine was found in Nigeria. Indian authorities seized 22,000 capsules of an epilepsy drug.
According to Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, a pharmacist discovered two units of suspected counterfeit Herceptin, a cancer treatment, in Nigerian markets.
Police in Punjab, India seized 22,000 diverted pregabalin capsules in two separate investigations.
![NAFDAC-Herceptin-warning-Aug-2024 close up of counterfeit boxes of Herceptin](https://www.safemedicines.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/NAFDAC-Herceptin-warning-Aug-2024.png)
Packaging of fake Herceptin found in Nigeria, August 2024 (NAFDAC)
![Shabbir-reading Shabbir-reading](https://www.safemedicines.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Shabbir-reading.jpeg)
What is our executive director reading? Here's what's on his desk this week. Follow Shabbir on LinkedIn for regular updates.
In New York: "He was wearing a court-ordered GPS ankle monitor while awaiting sentencing in the medical fraud case and also while he was operating the pharmacies and selling the counterfeit medication, according to documents in the case file." News | Filing
On Amazon: "The ring also took part in Amazon's Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) program, which means the counterfeiters allegedly shipped quantities of their counterfeit items to Amazon to be held and distributed out of Amazon warehouses in the U.S." Blog | Complaint
In court: "Payer Matrix and its partner 'RxFree4me' coordinating the illegal importation of purported AbbVie medicines and other pharmaceutical manufacturers’ medicines from outside the U.S." Filing | AFP 101