News
Counterfeit Medicines Are a Problem in the European Union—A Problem that is Continuing to Grow
According to a report from Europol’s Intellectual Property Crime Threat Assessment 2019, “Counterfeit pharmaceuticals pose a growing threat to the EU, affecting a large number of Member States. A wide and increasingly diverse range of medicines is targeted by counterfeiters.”
The Europol ICP Threat Assessment reports that there has been an increase in seizures of counterfeit drugs used in the treatment of serious illnesses, as well as a growing number of counterfeit drug incidents affecting the legal drug supply chain.
Security Breach Illustrates Another Danger of Fake Online Pharmacies
Planet Drugs Direct, an online pharmacy based in Winnipeg, Canada, has announced a data breach. Hackers broke into their servers, exposing customers’ names, medical details, and contact and banking information. Legitscript is unequivocal in calling Planet Drugs Direct a “Rogue Internet Pharmacy,” their worst rating for online pharmacies, accusing them of violating state and federal laws.
[...]Infographic: Counterfeiting By The Numbers
Our infographic, “Counterfeiting by the Numbers,” highlights facts from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s January 2020 report, Combating Trafficking in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods, which documents the extraordinary scale of the global counterfeiting market and its effects across all economic sectors—including medicines.
[...]PSM Statement on the passage of S.3201, which extends the DEA’s temporary scheduling of fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I for 15 months.
The Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) stands with our law enforcement partners in commending the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives for their swift passage of S.3201, which would extend the DEA’s temporary scheduling of fentanyl-related substances to be Schedule I controlled substances for an additional 15 months. Without this reauthorization, criminals could…
[...]New Jersey Enacts Increased Penalties for Counterfeit Drug Crimes
The Governor of New Jersey has just signed A-5037, a new law designed to increase penalties for counterfeit drug crimes committed in the state.
[...]Counterfeiter Who Made At Least 4.3 Million Fake Xanax Pills Sentenced
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Stephan Caamano, who manufactured and sold at least 4.3 million counterfeit Xanax pills, will spend the next 13 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to his crimes…
[...]Canadian health law experts predict: Canada won’t end up as the drugstore to the U.S.
This editorial by David C. Rosenbaum and Dara Jospé was published in the Financial Post on January 16, 2020. Rosenbaum is a partner of the law firm Fasken. Jospé is an associate for the same company.
[...]4-Year-Old Girl Died in September After Swallowing a Fentanyl-Laced Pill. Now Her Caregiver Has Been Charged in Her Death
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner has blamed fentanyl poisoning for the death of a four-year-old girl in Glendale last September. The report cited fentanyl toxicity as the cause of the little girl’s death.
[...]Academic Warns That State Drug Importation Proposals Threaten Patients and Innovation
This editorial by Dr. Kristina M. L. Acri née Lybecker was published in IP Watchdog on January 2, 2020. Dr. Acri is an Associate Professor of Economics at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, and Chair of the Department of Economics and Business.
[...]Doctor in Pennsylvania Pleads Guilty To Treating Patients with Imported Injectable Biologic Medications
Dr. Thomas Whalen, a rheumatologist who practiced medicine in Havertown, Pennsylvania has pleaded guilty to charges he purchased non-FDA approved, temperature-sensitive biologic medication from Turkey and the United Kingdom to treat his rheumatology patients.
[...]