Posts Tagged ‘California’
Two Santa Cruz County Residents Dead After Taking Counterfeit Xanax
A 19-year-old boy and a 29-year-old man in Santa Cruz are both dead after ingesting a fatal dose of fentanyl hidden in fake Xanax pills. A 22-year-old man is facing charges that he supplied the fatal fakes. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that on October 24th, 2015, two young men at a party took what…
[...]Three San Francisco Residents Dead After Ingesting Fake Xanax
Late in 2015, a group of San Francisco friends took what they thought was the anti-anxiety medication, Xanax. Within 48 hours, three of them were dead due to overdoses of the powerful end-stage cancer painkiller, fentanyl. Three residents of San Francisco have died as a result of taking counterfeit Xanax, according to KRON4 local news…
[...]Death in LA County Highlights the Dangers of Counterfeit Medication
A County officials warn public about the toxic threat that fake medications pose, and share a tragic story about a woman whose efforts to save money by using non-FDA approved treatments led to her death. An NBC News story shares the details of a counterfeit medication death in Los Angeles County. Esmeralda Mendez described for…
[...]Ventura County Interagency Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit Busts Fake Drugs Ring Selling Pharmaceuticals Made of Shredded Plastic
Confiscated fake drugs. Image courtesy of Ventura County Sheriff's Department. A tip called in to the local “Crime Stoppers” line informed the Ventura County Interagency Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit (VCIPCU) that fake drugs imported from Mexico were being sold in a local store in Santa Paula. Subsequent investigations led the VCIPCU to make arrests of 20…
[...]Alvarado Medical Plaza Pharmacy Owner Sentenced in Black Market Cancer Drug Case, Ordered to Repay Medicare Over $1 Million
Download BlackMarketCancer_Long.pdf (881.4K) William Burdine, owner of Alvarado Medical Plaza Pharmacy in San Diego, had earlier pleaded guilty to charges he purchased injectable cancer medication from Quality Specialty Products (QSP) of Canada. QSP first came to the attention of Federal authorities when they were identified as a source of counterfeit Avastin. Alvarado Medical Plaza Pharmacy…
[...]Pharmacists in 3 States Implicated in Schemes to Illegally Import Drugs and Defraud Medicare
Learn more about black market cancer drug cases by downloading this resource. While many pharmacists act as custodians for their patients’ safety, three different pharmacists in California, New York, and Pennsylvania have either been indicted or pleaded guilty to charges ranging from prescription drug smuggling and money laundering, to heath care fraud and illegal diversion…
[...]San Diego Pharmacist Pleads Guilty in Misbranded Cancer Drug Case
Alvarado Medical Pharmacy owner and pharmacist, William Burdine, pleaded guilty December 4th, 2013 to health care fraud in charges pertaining to his purchase and sale of illegally imported cancer medications from a known supplier of counterfeit cancer medication, Quality Specialty Products (QSP). QSP based in Winnepeg, Canada, was previously identified as one of the foreign…
[...]Justice Department Dismantles Fake Online Pharmacy Conspiracies & Convicts 9
On March 27, the US Department of Justice announced the sentencing of 9 people involved in distinct but interrelated fake online pharmacy conspiracies. The ringleaders were sentenced to 4-5 years apiece, while other members of the broad organizations got less jail time or probation. All told, the defendants forfeited more than $94 million in profits. UPS & FedEx shipping records were used as evidence in this case.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has concluded the successful prosecution of two different fake Internet pharmacy conspiracies. As they describe it, “these convictions were the result of a lengthy investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, San Francisco Field Division’s Financial Investigative Team. The prosecution is part of the Northern District of California United States Attorney’s Office’s Health Care Fraud program and was initiated as an investigation with the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force. Substantial assistance was provided by the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy. Assistant United States Attorneys Kirstin Ault, Thomas Stevens, and Tracie Brown, with assistance from Denise Oki, Maryam Beros, Rawaty Yim, and Rayneisha Booth, prosecuted this case on behalf of the United States.”
Pitcairn Internet Pharmacy
Michael Arnold, founder of Pitcairn Internet Pharmacy was given a 5 year jail term for his role in distributing controlled substances and prescription drugs through a maze of illegal Internet pharmacy websites. From 2003-2007, he earned more than $69 million via websites such as ezdietpills dot net, pillsavings dot com, and doctorrefill dot net. Arnold used accounts in several countries including Canada, Switzerland, and the Netherlands to launder profits from his illegal drug sales. In addition to his jail term, he has been ordered to forfeit the $69 million in profits from his fake online pharmacy business, reports the DOJ.
SafeScripts/PharmacyUSA
Christopher Napoli, the founder of SafeScripts (also known as PharmacyUSA) was sentenced to 4 years in jail and required to forfeit almost $25 million in profits from his illicit online pharmacy business. Napoli ran his fake Internet pharmacies from November 2004 to December 2006. During that time, Safescripts sold more than 13 million doses of controlled substances. Napoli’s Safescripts operation was rather sophisticated, paying affiliates in several foreign countries to market his drugs, and utilizing a call center in the Dominican Republic to handle customer calls, according to the sentencing document.
[...]Arrest Warrant Issued for Convicted Canadian Online Pharmacy Operator
An arrest warrant has been issued by Judge Irma Gonzalez, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, in San Diego, for Canadian businessman Nathan Jacobson as a result of his failure to appear for sentencing in the vast Affpower fake online pharmacy case.
In 2007, Jacobson was one of 18 indicted on racketeering and related charges for allegedly operating an internet business that generated more than $126 million in gross revenues from the illegal sale of prescription medicines from customers across the U.S., reported the U.S. Department of Justice.
[...]La Jolla Businessman, James R. Newcomb, Pleads Guilty to Counterfeit Drug Importation Charges
View larger map In an FDA report unsealed February 16th, La Jolla CA businessman, James R. Newcomb has pled guilty on charges of conspiracy to cause the introduction of adulterated prescription drugs into interstate commerce. Newcomb’s business, Ban Dune Marketing Inc (BDMI) of La Jolla, CA. has been named as a source of the counterfeit…
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