January 6, 2025: Counterfeit pills are increasingly available globally and their contents are ever more unpredictable
Major Stories
According to The Lancet, prescription medications containing fentanyl and other illegal substances are becoming more widely accessible worldwide. Cartel chemists are experimenting with new substances to offset a global crackdown on fentanyl precursors. DHS arrested a Chinese national who allegedly sold pill press equipment. Incognito Market’s owner pleaded guilty.
Police in Northumbria, UK seized this illicit pill press in April 2024.
According to an article in The Lancet’s January 2025 issue, counterfeit pills made with illicit synthetic ingredients such as fentanyl and nitazenes, which were first identified in North America, are increasingly being found in Europe, Australia, Latin America, and other locations.
The New York Times examines Mexican cartels’ response to disruptions in the fentanyl precursor market: cartel chemists faced with inconsistent quantity and quality of raw ingredients have been experimenting by boosting fentanyl with xylazine and other sedatives and testing mixtures that may differ from week to week on animals and even people.
A shift to domestic fentanyl production means that Canadian law enforcement is more focused on stopping precursor chemicals from getting into the country than seizing fentanyl at its borders.
A federal grand jury in Texas indicted a Chinese national for allegedly selling pill press equipment. Agents with the Department of Homeland Security arrested the defendant in October while she was attending a trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Rui-Siang Lin, the owner of darknet marketplace Incognito Market, pleaded guilty in federal court to multiple counts, including conspiracy to sell adulterated and misbranded medication.
Domestic News
Contaminated eye drops were recalled. Business closures are leaving Americans without access to pharmacies. The FDA removed tirzepatide from its drug shortage list.
Alcon Laboratories issued a nationwide recall of lot 10101 of its Systane Lubricant Eye Drops Ultra PF, Single Vials On-the-Go eyedrops due to fungal contamination.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled in December that the drug shortage of tirzepatide, the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Zepbound and Wegovy, is over.
Images from FDA alert posted December 23, 2024.
As more pharmacies close around the country, more and more people—especially senior citizens—are finding themselves living in pharmacy deserts.
A federal judge sentenced a Massachusetts doctor to three years in prison in a case involving the importation of illegal and misbranded drugs, as well as international money laundering.
A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty in federal court in Washington, D.C. for his role in manufacturing and distributing a variety of counterfeit narcotic pills via a darknet marketplace.
International News
Authorities reported counterfeit medicines in the Dominican Republic, India, Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
The U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency issued a warning about the sale of counterfeit weight-loss medications by fake websites posing as legitimate pharmacies.
A public health alert issued in the Dominican Republic warned about counterfeit versions of four medications—Elatrip, Inquetia, Zolosert, and Sadelit—used in the treatment of mental health.
Authorities in Hyderabad, India seized “a massive stock” of counterfeit Montek-LC, an allergy medication. Another raid in Kolkata yielded over $700,000 in counterfeit cancer and diabetes medicines.
Nigerian officials warned that a counterfeit version of Phesgo 60, an injectable cancer treatment, was circulating in the country.
Counterfeit cancer drugs in the news, June 2024 --
Between June 2024 and January 6, 2024, authorities announced that they had found counterfeit cancer medicines in Albania, Armenia, India, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Nigeria, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Click on countries in the map for links to news coverage.