Patient Harm
New Report Shows Widespread and Deadly Impact of Illegally-Imported Fentanyl (April 2018 Update)
A new report released April 10, 2018 by The Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) illustrates the growing deadly toll that illegally-imported fentanyl is having on communities throughout the U.S. PSM’s analysis confirms reports of counterfeit medicines made with fentanyl in 43 states, with fentanyl-related deaths confirmed in 22 states. The updated findings follow a report released by PSM last September that found a presence of counterfeit fentanyl in 40 states and related deaths in 16 states.
[...]Betty Jean Collins: An Unwitting Victim of Fentanyl-Laced Counterfeit Pain Pills
Georgia resident Betty Jean Collins became an unwitting victim of the state’s June counterfeit Percocet incident when she borrowed one of her husband’s pain pills and ended up in the hospital with a fentanyl overdose.
[...]Fake Online Pharmacy Operators Arrested After Man Dies From Taking Drugs They Sold
On May 22, 2016, law enforcement officers were dispatched to a residence in Madison, Wisconsin, in response to a report of a 37-year-old man who had stopped breathing. The victim was dead by the time officers arrived at his residence. An autopsy later confirmed that the victim’s death was caused by acute intoxication due to the combined effects of a substance called U-47700 and Benzodiazepine Analogue (Etizolam).
[...]Parents of Woman Who Died After Cosmetic Enhancement Want Murder Charges
A young New York mother is dead and her family is demanding answers after she received injections to enhance her buttocks, CBS News reports. Latesha Bynum, 32, went to a “doctor” practicing out of an apartment in the Gramercy Park neighborhood in New York. Within hours of having the procedure, Ms. Bynum had to be…
[...]Update On Fentanyl in Georgia
Image courtesy of the Georgia Poison Center The August newsletter from the National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS) News describes how the Georgia Poison Center (GPC) played a crucial role in the early detection of deadly, fentanyl-laced fake Percocet in Georgia. NDEWS describes how a call from an emergency-room doctor triggered the process of identifying…
[...]Oncologist Who Bought Cancer Drugs from Fake Drug Sellers Sentenced to Six Years in Prison
Dr. Diana Anda Norbergs, a Florida oncologist convicted in November 2016 of importing misbranded, non-FDA approved cancer drugs from unlicensed suppliers, has been sentenced to almost six years in federal prison, according to a report in the Tampa Bay Times. The Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment alleged that Norbergs purchased prescription cancer treatments from unlicensed foreign…
[...]Counterfeit Cosmetic Treatments are Injuring and Killing U.S. Women
A series of recent cases across the country illustrate how dangerous unlicensed and counterfeit cosmetic treatments can be. Having filler injected should be considered a medical procedure, not a cosmetic treatment. The FDA has NOT approved liquid silicone or silicone gel for injection to fill wrinkles or augment tissues anywhere in the body.
In the last two months, three cases illustrated just how dangerous it is to seek beauty treatment injections from anyone other than a licensed medical professional . . .
[...]Women in 2 States Indicted in Separate Clandestine Silicone Injection Scams
Update: In May 2017, Deanna Roberts pleaded guilty to illegally injecting persons with liquid silicone and for introducing liquid silicone that was obtained by fraud into interstate commerce. Roberts, who continued to administer industrial grade silicone injections even after she knew that one her patients had died and others had been hospitalized, was sentenced to…
[...]Florida woman sentenced to 11 years after killing and sickening victims with illegal silicone injections
Deanna Roberts, 47, of Sanford, Florida, was sentenced to 11 years and three months in federal prison after pleading guilty to “illegally injecting persons with liquid silicone and for introducing liquid silicone that was obtained by fraud into interstate commerce.” Between April 2004 and December 2015, Roberts injected illegally obtained silicone into the hips, buttocks, and…
[...]Counterfeit Pills Containing Fentanyl Contribute to 130 Deaths in Bay Area Since 2015
A San Francisco area news station, NBC Bay Area conducted a survey of Bay Area counties and found at least 130 fentanyl-related deaths since 2015. NBC Bay Area spoke to John Martin, special agent in charge for the drug agency’s San Francisco division. Special Agent Martin told them “What we’ve seen here in Northern California…
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