Counterfeit Medicine News for the Week of July 13, 2020

Instagram post promoting Emergency D-Virus Plan of Care
Promotion of Golden Sunrise
Pharmaceutical's fake treament.
Source: Instagram.
Image of framed certificates
Certificates included in an
Alibaba.com listing for surgical
masks. Source: NPR
Take <a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cder/sanitizer/">FDA's quiz</a> to test your <br>knowledge about hand sanitizer.
Take FDA's quiz to test your
knowledge about hand sanitizer.

Coronavirus fraud and counterfeit news:

In ongoing news about fake and substandard personal protection equipment:

Federal authorities continue to stop fake coronavirus products:

The Illinois State Police warned residents about scammers pretending to be contact tracers.

The Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center reported that four Arizona residents have died and 26 have been hospitalized after ingesting hand sanitizer with methanol since May. Exposure to methanol can cause nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, blindness, seizures, coma, permanent damage to the nervous system and death.

FDA—which has announced recalls for 67 methanol-based products, most of which were imported from Mexico—wants you to know the basic facts about hand sanitizers: Test your knowledge here.

Other Counterfeit News:

Maksym Nienadov and Volodymyr Nikolaienko of Ukraine pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Texas to conspiring to smuggle and distribute counterfeit cancer and hepatitis drugs into the U.S. after they sold undercover agents counterfeit Keytruda, Abraxane, and Epclusa in 2018.

CBP at the port of Nogales in Arizona intercepted more than five pounds of fentanyl pills and a third of a pound of Xanax pills on July 14.

Law enforcement in Buncombe County, North Carolina seized 358 grams of fentanyl and a pill press, and charged a Candler man with drug trafficking.

Even as we are dealing with the pandemic, PSM is keeping a steady eye on public reports of dangerous counterfeit drugs. Check back for next week’s summary.