Illegal Pill Presses Pose Serious, Nationwide Threat to American Patients and Communities

cover 2021 update on pill presses

The Partnership for Safe Medicines and the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators have released an update to 2019’s Illegal Pill Presses: An Overlooked Threat to American Patients.

Since the initial report, fentanyl deaths are higher than ever and these pills – created by clandestine pill presses around the globe – continue to be sold on the streets and on the dark web.

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A Campaign to Spread the Word About Fake Pill Deaths in the Central Valley of California

When the Central Valley Opioid Safety Commission contacted us about helping them promote a public safety message about the dangers of counterfeit pills made with fentanyl, of course we said yes. Their 30-second spot featured the family of Travis Jacobson, a young Californian who was tragically killed by a fake Xanax pill that turned out to be lethal. We at PSM were happy to underwrite both the direct costs and the labor costs of such an important public health message. 

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Are safety-tested imported drugs still cheaper? No. They are more expensive.

Testing medicine for legitimacy is a complicated process. Across 24 different prescription medicines, the average cost to test a single dose is $2,750. However, ensuring that a batch of 100 pills is 90% certain to be safe requires testing at least 22 pills. Achieving 99.999% certainty requires even more testing, at tremendous expense. Once you’ve done the required testing, U.S. generics are cheaper. To learn more about this topic, read PSM’s summary: safedr.ug/Acri-Explained.

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PSM Applauds Senate Passage of the Safeguarding Therapeutics Act

Boxes of masks seized in Chicago

The Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) applauds the passage of H.R. 5663 – the Safeguarding Therapeutics Act. The bipartisan bill, introduced by Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02-R) and Congressman Eliot Engel (NY-16-D), was passed via unanimous consent in the Senate on December 8th.

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Statement on Litigation Challenging Legality of Administration’s Final Rule Permitting State-Sponsored Drug Importation From Canada

Today, PhRMA, The Partnership for Safe Medicines and Council for Affordable Health Coverage initiated litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging action by HHS and FDA permitting pharmacists and wholesalers, pursuant to state-sponsored programs, to import certain prescription drugs from Canada into the United States without drug manufacturers’ authorization or oversight.

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