Posts by psm2016
LA City Attorney & Health Authority Law Enforcement Task Force Go After Fake Drugs Sellers
Following earlier successful raids by the Ventura County Task Force, new investigations in Los Angeles County have turned up counterfeit and misbranded medications for sale at small stores and swap meets all over the LA. Basin. The Los Angeles Daily News reports that fake medication sellers working at stores and swap meets in Los Angeles…
[...]Black Market Injectable Cosmetic Treatments, a Nationwide Problem
Between 2005 and 2013, there was one death and 11 other patients who required medical attention for disfigurement or serious illness as the result of receiving fake or misbranded cosmetic injectables while at a doctor’s office, clinic, or salon. Black Market Cosmetic Injectables in the U.S. 2005-2013 attempts to describe the scope of the problem.
[...]Computer Science Researchers Create an Automated System for Profiling Counterfeit Medication/Product Affiliate Networks
UC San Diego research team develops a system by which automated web crawling programs can identify spam-based sales websites and connect them to large affiliate networks. A 2014 paper by UC San Diego researchers Matthew Der, Lawrence K. Saul, Stefan Savage, and Geoffrey M. Voelker titled “Knock It Off: Profiling the Online Storefronts of Counterfeit…
[...]Counterfeit Drug Importation Charges Reinstated Against Prominent Wisconsin Pharmacist
Wisconsin pharmacist and former Wisconsin State Pharmacy Board member, Marla Ahlgrimm, and her alleged co-conspirator Balbir Bhogal are facing a renewed indictment from their 2010 counterfeit medication importation case. The pair are alleged to have imported more than 4 million fake pills into the United States to fill the orders for a Costa Rican online…
[...]Trio of Texans Indicted for Smuggling 100,000 Fake Pills into United States
3 Texas residents are alleged to have received more than 30 shipments of fake medications and acted as drop-shippers for a drug counterfeiting operation run from China. Counterfeit versions of painkillers and lifestyle drugs were among the seized fakes. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced the indictment of three Texans on counterfeit drug and…
[...]Europol’s Operation Archimedes Targets Child Trafficking, Finds Fake Drug Factory
Links between counterfeit medication production and organized crime illuminated as European authorities discover counterfeit medication producing equipment in a Europe-wide breakup of a child-trafficking ring. Over 1,000 arrested and 30 trafficked children freed as part of Operation Archimedes. Europol has just announced the largest ever cooperated international law enforcement operation that targeted organized crime specializing…
[...]PSM’s Jim Dahl Calls on Congress & Federal Government to Eliminate the Menace of Counterfeit Drugs
In an October 6th op-ed piece for The Hill, Partnership for Safe Medicines board member Jim Dahl described the growing threat that counterfeit drugs pose to U.S. patients, and asks Congress and the Federal Government to step up efforts to stop the spread of counterfeit drugs and fake online pharmacies. Jim Dahl, a retired Assistant…
[...]Texas Trio Charged With Counterfeit Drug Smuggling
Three Athens, Texas residents, Wanda Hollis, 63, Tom Giddens, 57, and Catherine Nix, 41 have been charged with one felony count of conspiracy to smuggle merchandise into the United States, seven counts of causing the introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud or mislead, seven counts of smuggling and one…
[...]In Operation Biyela 2, African Customs Agents Seize Over 113 Million Fake Medications
The World Customs Organization and the International Institute of Research Against Counterfeit Medicines joined forces in Africa to try and stem the tide of counterfeit drugs sweeping though African nations. With Operation Biyela 2 customs agents in 14 African countries have conducted seizures that paint a clearer picture of how counterfeit medication makes its way…
[...]JAMA Report: HIV Drugs Targeted for Black Market Resale in the United States
A new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association examines how suspicious prescriptions for HIV medications indicate that HIV drugs are being diverted for resale on the black market. The September 17th 2014 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that HIV medication is being purchased by devious means…
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