News Coverage
The Partnership for Safe Medicines has been publishing information about the counterfeit drug problem around the world for more than a decade. With experts leading the organization and a committed and passionate set of writers and editors, our content is more in-depth than many other sources, which simply copy links to the news from other websites.
David Chen, Director, Pharmacy Practice Sections of the American Society of Health-system Pharmacists spoke after the morning break on Supply Chain Integrity. Chen spoke about the integrity of the drug supply chain and the stressors that create risky behaviors by consumers. The stressors are affordability, disruptions, access and shortages, said Chen. The top three areas where…
James Dinkins, Executive Associate Director of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) spoke on the risks to Americans for purchasing medications online from fake websites. Dinkins said that the counterfeit medicine industry has changed and become a global industry, exploiting the easy access of technology to take advantage of consumers. Said Dinkins, "Criminals world wide have…
Dr. Bryan Liang, PSM Board Member, and E. Donald Shapior Distinguished Professor and Executive Director of the Institue of Health Law Studies, California Western School of Law introduced Tim K. Mackey, Alsberg Fellow for Safe Medicines. Mackey, a doctoral student at the California Western School of Law, presented original research on Fake Online Pharmacy…
United
Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Honored for Excellence, Achievement in Fighting
Counterfeit Drug Sellers
Washington, D.C. (September 27, 2012) – The Partnership for Safe Medicines
(PSM) today announced the recipient of the Guardian Award, given annually to
the individual or organization who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in
the fight to stop counterfeit medicines.
The Partnership for Safe Medicines is preparing for tomorrow's Interchange by reviewing speaker presentations, preparing materials, and learning about our colleague's efforts to fight counterfeits globally. Preparations have been made for more than 160 attendees, which include many journalists, patient safety advocates, government agencies, and law enforcement as well as both branded and generic pharmaceutical manufacturers.…
The US Food and Drug Administration has introduced a powerful new tool in the war against counterfeit drugs. It’s a hand-held counterfeit drug detection spectrometer that uses light to detect anomalies in drug appearance and packaging.
Called the Counterfeit Detection Device #3, or CD3, it was developed internally by the FDA, and presented at an FDA symposium by Commissioner Margaret Hamburg on September 11th, reports CNN.
Ministry of Health Assistant Director Mazlan Ismail cites high profits and mild punishments for drug counterfeiting as the cause of this global shift as Malay government considers increasing sanctions for drug counterfeiting crime.
Malaysia’s Sun Daily spoke with Ministry officials and pharmaceutical manufacturing representatives on the occasion of “The Hard Facts Media Workshop, organized by Pzifer Asia.
Kevin Xu a citizen of the Peoples Republic of China was sentenced to seventy-eight months imprisonment for distributing counterfeit and misbranded drugs in the United States, on January 1th, 2009.
Xu was sentenced after being found guilty in a jury trial that took place in August 2008. Xu was indicted in 2007, as the result of an undercover investigation conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the US Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigation (FDA).
Xu described to undercover agents his ability to manufacture all manner of brand name prescription drugs, and included a list of 25 different prescription drugs he could produce, including Plavix (used for treating blood clots), Casodex (for the treatment of prostate cancer), and Tamiflu (used for the treatment of influenza) along with several other life-saving drugs.
Xu had been conducting his business throughout Europe, but the investigation that resulted in his arrest only began once he attempted to break into the United States pharmaceuticals market. The US investigation into Xu’s activities uncovered the startling volume of business that he was conducting in the United Kingdom. As a result of this discovery, massive drug recalls were declared by the UK’s Medicines and Health Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and a counterfeit drug distribution ring based in the United Kingdom was apprehended.
MHRA Director of Inspection, Enforcement and Standards, Gerald Heddell, as well as FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, and OCI Director John Roth are all speaking at the 2012 Interchange on September 28, 2012.
Learn more about the world of counterfeit drug crime and the agencies that are fighting it on behalf of patients. Register today for your last chance to join in the conversation.
The Partnership for Safe Medicine’s Executive Director, Scott LaGanga, is presenting on Thursday September 20th, at the The PDMA Sharing Conference. The conference, held at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, is held over three days starting September 19th.
Mr. LaGanga will bring attendees up to date on the risks and dangers associated with counterfeit drugs, a real concern for American consumers.
In a recent interview with Pathogens & Global Health, Dr. Paul Newton, Head of the Welcome Trust-Mahosot Hospital-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Collaboration in Vientiane, Laos, offered his expertise on the growing problem of counterfeit medication in the treatment of tropical diseases.
Dr. Paul Newton works in the heart of Malaria country in Southeast Asia. As a result, he has a very clear, first-hand perspective on the role counterfeit and substandard drugs play in drug resistance and the human cost of counterfeit medication. He is also well acquainted with the drug supply chain problems that plague malarious regions.
The new Director of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of Criminal
Investigations, John Roth, will be the luncheon speaker at the Partnership for Safe Medicines 2012 Interchange on September 28.
Roth joins the esteemed panel of Interchange speakers that includes keynote speaker Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of the FDA, and panelists Gerald Heddell, Director of Inspection, Enforcement and Standards of the UK’s MHRA, and James Dinkins, Executive Associate Director, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations.
A key member of a criminal drug gang that sold vast quantities of counterfeit drugs in the United States has been convicted, but his fugitive boss is who the Feds are really after.
A Puerto Rican man, Francis Ortiz Gonzalez has been convicted of conspiracy and seven counts of trafficking in counterfeit pharmaceuticals after a 6 six-day trial in Los Angeles. The trial followed a grand jury indictment from June 2009. Ortiz Gonzalez is set for sentencing on November 8th of this year, announced U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
August 2012 found The Partnership For Safe Medicine’s Executive Director Scott LaGanga meeting with Chinese government and business authorities in Beijing to discuss counterfeit medications.
The timing of the visit coincided with a government seizure of $180 million worth of counterfeit medications said LaGanga, noting that there is still much to be done to curb counterfeit drug production in China. “While a critical development, our work is only getting started and it will take the public-private partnership of government, industry, stakeholders and individual patients before we can make a dent in this issue,” wrote LaGanga in a blog post.
In Russia two gang members were arrested for selling expired cancer medications to pharmacies and hospitals, repackaged as if authentic. Meanwhile a Miami pharmacy technician stole fragile, refrigerated cancer medications in order to re-sell them.
In July 2012, Russian police arrested two counterfeit drug gang members for allegedly selling $15.4 million of counterfeit cancer medications.
Melanie Haiken, writing for the MSN Wellness Blog, highlights the seven most likely drug counterfeits that US consumers could end up purchasing.
Counterfeit drugs are a scary threat to US consumers, writes Melanie Haiken in her article, 7 Scariest Counterfeit Drugs. You might think you are taking a pain reliever or lifestyle drug for weight loss or erectile dysfunction (ED) but instead you end up with any number of hidden poisons such as road paint, antifreeze, or an undeclared and unapproved medication like Sibutramine.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an updated alert that Reumofan Plus and Reumofan Plus Premium contain undeclared prescription drug ingredients that have impacted public safety.
The agency announced it has received reports of “fatalities, stroke, severe bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, dizziness, insomnia, high blood sugar levels and problems with liver and kidney functions,as well as corticosteroid withdrawal syndrome,” in the two months since initially announcing the recall on the product in June.
Malaria is a major concern for public health officials throughout much of the world. Now a new report indicate US citizens returning from Africa are coming home with drug-resistant malaria, while The Lancet tells us up to one third of all malaria treatments are counterfeit.
News from Alertnet reports that US travelers returning from visits to sub-Saharan Africa are bringing home artemisinin-resistant malaria. Though no indication of large-scale malaria drug resistance has yet appeared on the African continent, it is a worrying trend that may presage full-scale drug resistance in African malarial strains.
Drug resistance as a result of the proliferation of counterfeit/low dose treatments is a growing problem in the fight against malaria. USAID is leading the charge to combat counterfeit malaria treatments in the places where malaria drug resistance is developing.
Drug counterfeiters, exploiting a captive audience in malaria sufferers, have helped create artemisinin-resistant malaria strains along the Thai/Cambodia and Thai/Myanmar borders. Counterfeit versions of malaria drugs have proliferated along the war-torn borders in Southeast Asia, and are also showing up in several African nations.
Robin Han, a citizen of New Zealand, faces up to 30 years in prison and possible $6 million fine after pleading guilty to counterfeit drug charges last month.
US attorneys from the Central District of California have successfully prosecuted Han on charges he was a large scale trafficker of counterfeit drugs in the United States. His indictment was originally filed in 2007, but he was a fugitive from justice until March 29th of this year, when he was taken into custody at San Francisco International airport, reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Han became a target of the federal probe in 2006, after US Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted a parcel containing counterfeit versions of erectile dysfunction medication. Subsequent investigation traced the shipment to Robin Han.
Chinese officials announced the arrest of almost 2,000 people in a counterfeit drug ring operating in China. Authorities there said the drugs discovered were responsible for causing serious ailments, such as liver & kidney damage, and heart failure.
According the Reuters, suspects in the case were advertising the sale of their drugs online, in newspapers, and even on television. More than 1,000 manufacturing facilities for counterfeit medicines were destroyed, and more than $180 million worth of counterfeit drugs.
Just announced! Dr. Margaret Hamburg, FDA Commissioner will be the keynote speaker at the 2012 Interchange, September 28th in Washington DC!
We’ve just received official confirmation that Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration, will give the keynote speech at the 2012 Partnership for Safe Medicines Interchange. We’re very honored to have Commissioner Hamburg speak at the Interchange, and look forward to hearing her offer her expertise on the subject of counterfeit drug crime.
Dr. Hamburg is the 21st commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. She was confirmed in her post on May 18, 2009. She is only the second woman to be nominated for this position, having served previously as an Assistant Secretary at the US Department of Health and Human Services, and also as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health.
Fake online drug sellers, gray market distributors, and counterfeit medicines in the U.S.’s safe, secure drug supply chain will be subjects discussed at the 2012 Interchange in Washington DC September 28th. Please join us!
This will be the second time Commissioner Hamburg has spoken at a Partnership for Safe Medicines Interchange. She first joined us in 2010, where she addressed the problem of counterfeit drugs, “The issue of counterfeit drugs is one of both domestic and international concern. It is shocking to realize that, in some parts of the world, somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of drugs to treat serious diseases are actually counterfeit.”
Since her appearance at the 2010 Interchange, the FDA has had to contend with an increasingly globalized drug marketplace. Her continued efforts as commissioner have been to seek greater penalties for drug counterfeiters, and also give the FDA more authority to deal with counterfeit drugs when they discover them.
We hope you will join Commissioner Hamburg, Deputy Director Heddell of the MHRA, Associate Director Dinkins of the ICE Homeland Security Investigations, along with many other experts from medicine, policy, law enforcement, and patient advocacy at our 2012 Interchange in Washington DC. Discounted early registration ends August 15th, so register today!
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.
In February of this year, the FDA notified 19 cancer doctors that a counterfeit version of the cancer drug Avastin had breached the U.S.’s closed, secure drug supply chain. Now 5 months later, investigations have allegedly connected the counterfeit cancer drug’s entry into the US with one of Canada’s biggest online pharmacy operations, Canadadrugs.com.
Partnership for Safe Medicines Executive Director Scott LaGanga released the following statement on the launch of the Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies (CSIP):
“Today, the Partnership for Safe Medicines is pleased to welcome another powerful ally in the fight against counterfeit drugs. It is our sincerest hope that the launch of the Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies will make it far more difficult for criminals to peddle dangerous and potentially lethal fake ‘medicines’ to unsuspecting victims.
Patient safety is the concern of every doctor, nurse, and pharmacist working in medicine today, reminded Founder of Partnership of Safe Medicines India, Bejon Misra. Counterfeit drugs impact patient safety, particularly in places where the drug supply chain is compromised.
In 2011, when asked what safe medicines meant to him, he responded simply, “Saving millions of lives.“
A new report by the European Commission identified a 9-fold increase in counterfeit drug seizures in the EU since 2010.
In 2011, counterfeit drug enforcement in the European Union broke up counterfeit drug rings in Spain and the United Kingdom, identified fake HIV medication in the market and convicted fake asthma inhaler distributors in the UK. The new Report on EU Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights: Results At the EU Border-2011, showed “a continuous upward trend” in counterfeit medication confiscations at the border since 2010.
There is a certain amount of irony in this week’s collection of pwned websites hosting fake online pharmacies. While we are a little surprised that Instructables is still hosting a site selling Xanax, and perplexed that a Criminal Justice program at UNC Charlotte would be selling Cialis without a prescription, our biggest shock was seeing…
“What is the real reason criminals counterfeit drugs?” As Congressman Jim Matheson said at the 2011 Partnership for Safe Medicine’s Interchange “follow the money.”
A recent report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) highlights why more counterfeit drug cases are appearing in news reports. Organized crime makes billions each year off of drug counterfeiting, amongst their other activities. The UNODC estimates global counterfeiting enterprises generate $250 billion (US) in annual profits.
View larger map Robin Han, a citizen of New Zealand, faces up to 30 years in prison and possible $6 million fine after his guilty plea on counterfeit drug charges. US attorneys from the Central District of California prosecuted Han on charges he conducted a large scale counterfeit drug trafficking business in the United States.…
How is technology advancing in counterfeit drug crime? Learn more at the 2012 Interchange where Timothy K. Mackey, MAS, the 2011-2012 Carl L. Alsberg, MD, Fellow for Safe Medicines will present his research, “A Day in the Life of Illegal Online Drug Sellers.”
Counterfeit drug sellers and fake online pharmacies use sophisticated web search redirection, IP-hijacking, and search result flooding to manipulate Internet users to purchase from their online counterfeit drug sites.
In the global fight to combat counterfeit drug crime, simple SMS technology is leading the charge for patient safety.
A simple and low-cost solution to drug verification problems for patients, SMS text verification empowers consumers to protect themselves from counterfeit drugs by sending a numeric code from their drug packaging from their phone for free verification. We’ll be discussing this and other technological innovations in the counterfeit drug fight at the 2012 Interchange on September 28, 2012.
The MHRA has announced that three men have been sentenced to 89 weeks imprisonment for laundering $400,000 generated by a fake online pharmacy selling counterfeit medicines.
The men were prosecuted as part of a wider investigation. From 2004 to 2009 they were laundering profits from a criminal online pharmacy website based in Cyprus. Says the MHRA, “The business was run by a UK criminal who set up a number of illegal online pharmacy businesses selling counterfeit and powerful prescription-only medicines from outside of the UK.”
The MHRA has been on a tear of prosecutions against illegal online pharmacies and counterfeit medicine and medical device sellers. In early 2012, the MHRA let FDA agents know they suspected counterfeit cancer medications were being passed into the U.S. They also prosecuted UK-based counterfeit drug distributor Peter Gillespie in 2011, who was working closely with Kevin Xu, convicted in the US for manufacturing and distributing counterfeit medications in 2010.
MHRA Director of Inspection, Enforcement and Standards, Gerald Heddell, will be speaking at the 2012 Interchange on September 28. The Interchange, at the National Press Club, in Washington, DC, is a full day conference of policymakers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, patient advocates, law enforcement, healthcare professionals, and anti-counterfeiting companies discussing the safety, health, and legal issues of counterfeit medications. Learn about the most recent criminal cases involving the MHRA and others at the 2012 Interchange.
MHRA agents made test purchases of counterfeit medicines to establish a link to the criminal enterprise, and then financial investigators traced over $1.5 million in three years from the websites’ UK bank account to a bank account in Cyprus.
The impact that online counterfeit drug sales have on patients’ health is real, remarked Nimo Ahmed, Acting Head of Enforcement at MHRA.
“This case highlights the criminality of the people who continue to put profit before patient’s health. These illegal pharmacy websites selling medicines bought from illegitimate sources pose a real threat to people’s health because they simply don’t know what they are getting.”
However, not all internet pharmacies are specious. Online pharmacies that have the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Seal (VIPPS) are safe sources for the convenience and cost savings of online shopping, without the risks of potential counterfeit medications.
Online pharmacies have been implicated in several recent criminal cases, from accusations of wire and mail fraud, to distribution of counterfeit medications for cancer, ADHD and pain.
Experts at The Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies, a non-profit for the purpose of protecting patient safety globally and ensuring patient access to safe and legitimate online pharmacies warn that this may only be the tip of the iceberg.
Learn more at the 2012 Interchange on September 28, 2012 at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.
On September 10th, 2012, the India Office of the Partnership for Safe Medicines is organizing a Patient Safety and Drug Detection Technology Workshop in New Delhi, India. Working with the Government of India, the workshop builds upon a September 2011 APEC Drug Safety and Detection Technology seminar held in Beijing. The workshop’s objectives are…
A federal jury convicted Luis Angel Garcia Torres, 41, of Puerto Rico on 12 counts related to trafficking in counterfeit medicine, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, on June 14, 2012.
Garcia Torres used the internet to purchase the medication, provided advice to the counterfeit manufacturers in China on avoiding detection by US law enforcement, and then sold the fake drugs to undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Houston, TX.
In March, Abbot Pharmaceuticals reported that two instances of counterfeit Vicodin ES had been found, having been purchased on the internet. Vicodin ES is a combination of hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen, used to relieve moderate to severe pain. It is a Schedule III drug, which requires a prescription to be dispensed, and is deemed to…
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) has applied to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to own and operate the new .PHARMACY generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD). NABP has announced it has applied for the generic Too-Level Domain .PHARMACY as a "community-based application representing legitimate online pharmacies and prescription drug-related organizations worldwide…
H.R. 3668, the Counterfeit Drug Penalty Enhancement Act, was approved by the House of Representatives on June 18, 2012. Sponsored by Representatives Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.), Tom Marino (R-Pa.), and Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.), the House bill has stiffer penalties for drug counterfeiters than the Senate approved version. Reports Bloomberg BNA, the House version of the bill…
FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg seeks stronger penalties to fight counterfeit drug trafficking, saying, “We need legal authorities to give teeth to our action. We are increasingly concerned that this is becoming an attractive area for bad guys, including organized crime,” reported The Financial Times. Dr. Hamburg told the Financial Times that current penalties for…
The US Food and Drug Administration is advising American consumers in a new campaign to avoid counterfeit medications by purchasing only from US state-licensed pharmacies.
World Health Organization (WHO) representative Michael O’Leary has announced that China now has five anti-malaria drugs that have met WHO standards for prequalification. China Daily reports that a study released in January 2012 by the Wellcome Trust cites Chinese manufacturers as a major source of counterfeit anti-malaria drugs in Asia and Africa. Head researcher…
On May 24, 2012, Thomas Christi, Acting Office Director for the FDA’s Office of Drug Security, Integrity and Recalls sent warning letters to Pharmawest Pharmacy and Best Price Rx, two Canadian pharmacies known by their websites www.bestpricerx.com and www.northwestpharmacy.com. The warning letters state that the FDA has determined that the companies’ websites “offer an unapproved…
Canadian citizen Andrew Strempler, 38, founder of Mediplan, which fulfilled online medicine orders for ten websites, appeared in federal court in Miami on Thursday, June 14, 2012. He is expected to be arraigned on charges related to a 2005 seizure of drugs shipped by Mediplan into the US. The medications were purported to be Canadian, but US FDA officials claim the medications were actually from other countries, reports the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC).
Washington, D.C. (June 7, 2012) – Marv Shepherd, PhD, president of the Partnership for Safe Medicines, today released the following statement marking World Anti Counterfeiting Day: “The criminals that market and distribute fake medicines are the worst kind of counterfeiters. By knowingly selling products that are harmful and potentially deadly, drug counterfeiters pose a serious…
The internet provides thousands of clickable links to solutions and treatments for the most common men’s health concerns, but how many of them are providing authentic, safe medication?
Learn more about common men’s health issues and how counterfeiters prey on them.
Counterfeit medicines are more common today than ever. USA Today reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 200% more counterfeit pharmaceuticals in 2011, than they did in 2002.
Reumofan Plus Alert by The U.S. Food and Drug Administration via Flickr. This is a reprint of the FDA Alert. AUDIENCE: Consumer, Health Professional, Emergency Medicine ISSUE: FDA is warning consumers that Reumofan Plus, marketed as a natural dietary supplement for pain relief and other serious conditions, contains several active pharmaceutical ingredients not listed on…
Washington, D.C. (May 24, 2012) – Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) president Marvin D. Shepherd, PhD, today released the following statement on the U.S. Senate’s rejection of an amendment by Senator John McCain to allow the importation of prescription drugs from Canada. McCain’s measure failed by a vote of 43-54: “PSM applauds those Senators who…
Washington, D.C. (May 21, 2012) – Marv Shepherd, PhD, president of the Partnership for Safe Medicines, today released the following statement regarding news that global leaders at the G8 Summit have addressed the growing threat posed by counterfeit medicines: “The commitment to combat rogue online pharmacies made at this past weekend’s G8 Summit reinforces the…
Leading Health Care, Business, Labor and Advocacy Groups Join
Together to Oppose Drug Importation as Part of the Prescription
Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA)
Importation Undermines Drug Safety Protocols, Could Lead to Influx of Dangerous Counterfeit Drugs
Washington, D.C. (May 21, 2012) – In a letter sent today to members of the U.S. Senate, the Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM), a public health group comprised of more than 65 organizations committed to the safety of prescription drugs and protecting consumers against counterfeit, substandard or otherwise unsafe medicines, joined with leading patient, health care, business and advocacy groups in strongly opposing any amendments that would permit legal importation as part of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). If allowed to move forward, importation would unnecessarily expose patients to increased risk of dangerous and potentially life-threatening counterfeit medicines making their way into the United States.
Among the organizations included in the letter: the American Pharmacists Association, the Kidney Cancer Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Pharmaceutical Industry Labor Management Association (PILMA) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
“Despite the United States having the most secure drug supply chain in the world, recent incidents such as the discovery of fake Avastin prove we must remain ever vigilant,” said PSM Chairman Marvin D. Shepherd, PhD. “Contrary to claims made by importation advocates, there is no regulation for products trans-shipped through ‘safe’ countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom. Americans would be put at great risk and importation would erode the FDA’s ability to regulate prescription medicines, opening the door for more criminals to operate bogus online pharmacies that prey upon our citizens.”
Real and Counterfeit Tamilfu Picture by the FDA via Flickr. No. Many of the counterfeit drugs in circulation today are so carefully made that even the experts cannot detect them by sight alone. They have to use special laboratory equipment to assess the chemical composition of the product in order to match it to…
266. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) surveys the online pharmacy market quarterly. Their last survey released in January 2012 found that only 266 appear to be potentially legitimate, and only 67 actually have been accredited through the NABP’s Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites program. Correspondingly, there are 7,230 sites that do not…
Two Israeli citizens pleaded guilty to smuggling counterfeit and misbranded drugs in the US, announced FDA-OCI. Said OCI, “Both men operated an Internet business in Israel that used multiple websites… to illegally sell large amounts of prescription drugs to U.S. purchasers…generating approximately $1,475,363 in gross proceeds.”
Two Cuban brothers were indicted by federal authorities for the theft of more than $70 million in prescription drugs from an Eli Lilly & Co. warehouse the night of March 13, 2010. The Connecticut warehouse break-in required the criminals to slide through a whole cut in the warehouse roof, down a rope, in order to…
It’s Women’s Health Week. Do you know what risks women face from counterfeit medications?
How can disfiguration, uterine infection, diabetic shock, and post-partum hemorrhage be the results of purchasing medications outside the secure U.S. drug supply from fake online pharmacies?
Learn about how these conditions can be the result of purchasing fake medications and about what other illnesses, and even death, can be caused by counterfeit medications.
Read more about the TOP 9 HEALTH RISKS women face from counterfeit medication.
Pharmacists in Brooklyn and Suffolk County have been charged with allegedly re-selling HIV and AIDS medications to patients that had been illegally obtained on the black market. The medications were mislabelled and potentially mishandled and expired. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said, "The ringleaders of this complex scheme not only cheated the Medicaid program out of…
The Food and Drug Administration has sent warning letters to more than 50 U.S. doctors and medical clinics that may have purchased counterfeit cancer injectable medication. Originally the FDA sent 19 medical practices warnings in March. The FDA warns the physicians that purchasing from foreign or unlicensed medicine suppliers puts patients at risk of exposure to potentially fake, contaminated, ineffective and dangerous medication.
FDA official Dr. S. Leigh Verbois, Acting Deputy Director of the Division of Supply Chain Integrity asked physicians in 15 states to avoid using the fake medications in letters dated April 5, 2012.
The doctors who received these letters reside in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. See map to find doctors warned in your state here.
“…your medical practice purchased multiple medications from a foreign distributor named Richards Pharma, also known as Richards Services, Warwick Healthcare Solutions, or Ban Dune Marketing Inc. (BDMI). Many of the products sold and distributed by this distributor have not been approved by the FDA,” said Dr. Verbois’ letters.
“The Agency has learned that one of the products distributed by Richards Pharma is a counterfeit version of Roche’s Altuzan 400mg/16ml. Even if the version had not been counterfeit, Altuzan itself is not approved by FDA,” the letters continue.
“Other drug products obtained from Richards Pharma, Richards Services, Warwick Healthcare Solutions, BDMI, or other foreign or unlicensed suppliers may be from unknown sources, may have unknown ingredients, may be counterfeit, or may not have been manufactured, transported or stored under proper conditions as required by U.S. law, regulations, and standards.
“Purchasing prescription drug products, such as injectable cancer medications, from foreign or unlicensed suppliers puts patients at risk of exposure to drugs that may be fake, contaminated, improperly stored and transported, ineffective, and dangerous. In virtually all cases, purchasing unapproved prescription drugs from foreign sources violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and is illegal.”
LEARN MORE ABOUT COUNTERFEIT CANCER MEDICATIONS
IN THE US AT THE 2012 PARTNERSHIP FOR SAFE MEDICINES INTERCHANGE.
The FDA letter goes on to point out that the medication counterfeited is not in short supply, and points back to an FDA Drug Integrity and Supply Chain Security memo released to physicians in January 2012. The letter states that the FDA knows that some physicians are purchasing unapproved injectable cancer medications, and reminds them that importing medications from foreign sources is in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).
Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of the FDA, wrote in the FDA’s blog, “For patients with cancer, combating the disease is difficult enough. But to learn that the cancer drug you were taking to save or prolong your life might be nothing but a counterfeit is unthinkable.”
Asthmatics Can Save Money Safely by Buying from VIPPS Certified Online Pharmacies
Washington, D.C. (May 2, 2012) – Asthmatics suffer from both chronic shortness of breath that if treated inconsistently can lead to serious illness and the burden of daily medication which requires conscientious treatment as well as expense.
The United Kingdom’s Medicine & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) confiscated £14.4 million in assets from a convicted counterfeit medicine dealer. Simon Martin Hickman, 52, from Manchester, was sentenced to two years imprisonment in June 2009 following a conviction of selling and supplying fake and unlicensed medicines, as well as money laundering £1.4 million, announced…
The United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is hosting a two day workshop on good distribution practices and supply chain integrity in Rockville, MD. The objectives of the workshop are To discuss the breadth of current issues, regulations and solutions. Obtain additional input for USP General Chapter <1083>. Identify opportunities for USP's role in supply chain…
In honor of World Malaria Day, we are reprinting this blog post by PSM Board member Tom Kubic, President and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Security Institute originally posted on the Sproxil blog April 3, 2012.
This is a reprint of the FDA alert. XROCK INDUSTRIES, LLC Issues a Voluntary Nationwide Recall of X-ROCK, a Product Marketed as a Dietary Supplement to Support Male Sexual Performance, Due to Unlisted, Potentially Hazardous Ingredient XROCK INDUSTRIES, an independent distributor of the X-ROCK products, is conducting a user level voluntary recall of certain supplement products sold…
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy has released year end data on safe online pharmacies showing the rise of the “affiliate network.”
While the number of legitimate online pharmacies safe for Americans remains at 4% of all, the growth of fake online pharmacies out of compliance with U.S. pharmacy laws and practice standards appears to be strongly linked to the spread of underlying source organizations called “affiliate networks” that proliferate the internet with copies of their websites.
The NABP has published a report, “Internet Drug Outlet Identification Program Progress Report for State and Federal Regulators: January 2012” which identifies 8,456 so-called online pharmacies that are out of compliance with U.S. pharmacy laws and practice standards. Of those, 8,265 appear to be network affiliated, 98%.
The NABP staff identified websites that use the same phone number, physical address, domain name registrant, website design or web business name as those being part of a rogue affiliate network. A rogue affiliate network is a group of internet drug outlets operated by one organization, which are frequently operated outside of the U.S.
“The common perception in America is that a discount retailer out there on the internet can, because of lower costs of business elsewhere, provide medication at below U.S. market rates. What they don’t know is that the medications are all coming from the same counterfeiters in India and China, and that a giant conglomerate of organized crime runs these hundreds of millions of websites that advertise as if they were ‘mom and pop’ small pharmacies on the internet,” said Carmen Catizone, NABP’s Executive Director.
Partnership for Safe Medicines Carl L. Alsberg, MD, Fellow, Timothy Mackey, UCSD PhD student and senior research associate, has been awarded one of four Interdisciplinary Scholar Awards at University of California San Diego’s university-wide competition.
Brazilian researchers for the Revista de Saude Publica have determined that counterfeit medicine seizures have tripled since 2007.
AFP has reported that Chinese authorities have detained 22 people accused of making drug capsules using chromium, a toxic metal that can cause kidney, liver, and blood cell damage. 13 Chinese manufactured medications have been removed from domestic circulation due to excessive chromium levels.
Consumers also need to know that only prescription medications purchased from legitimate pharmacies can treat STD, and to avoid so-called over-the-counter cures as well as prescription medications purchased from questionable sources.
In light of the rise in counterfeit drugs, two North Dakota State University students have chosen to take an active role in educating other health care providers, as well as the public. Third year pharmacy students Nick O’Rourke and Tegan Buckley recently presented an informational poster to illuminate this problem.
This is a reprint of the FDA alert. Altuzan (bevacizumab): Counterfeit Product – Contains no Active Ingredient ISSUE: FDA lab tests have confirmed that a counterfeit version of Roche’s Altuzan 400mg/16ml (bevacizumab),an injectable cancer medication, found in the U.S. contains no active ingredient. Even if the identified drugs were not counterfeit, Altuzan is not approved…
Purchasing antibiotics without a prescription online can lead you to receiving antibiotics without the proper therapeutic doses or possibly no doses. When an individual purchases antibiotics without a prescription they are negatively impacting public health in several ways. Take a vow for National Public Health Week that you’ll protect yourself and your family from these risks.
Patients are growing concerned about reports of counterfeit drugs being provided by doctors. Patients can protect themselves by asking their physicians questions about the origins of medicines they receive in their doctor’s office.
Read more about what patients can do to stay safe.
The diabetic in your life has a lot to keep track of. Constant monitoring of blood sugar levels, making sure they get the medication they need when they need it, eating well, getting enough rest, and enjoying life.
Help out the diabetic in your life by protecting them from four ways criminals can rip them off, while they’re trying their best just to get by.
During National Poison Prevention Week, every day we’re featuring a type of poison that investigators have found in counterfeit medications.
Learn more about heavy metals, actual poisons, toxic household items, and unsafe drugs substituted for safe ones that investigators have found in fake drugs purchased online by unsuspecting consumers.
Learn 5 Kinds of Poison Found in Counterfeit Medications – Common household items you’d never ingest
During National Poison Prevention Week, every day we’re featuring a type of poison that investigators have found in counterfeit medications.
Learn more about heavy metals, actual poisons, and toxic household items that investigators have found in fake drugs purchased online by unsuspecting consumers.
Two people were arrested in Northeastern England by Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Several thousand fake medicine tablets have been seized estimated at £115,000. Counterfeit erectile dysfunction medication and unapproved anti-obesity medicines rimonabant and sibutramine were found, reports the MHRA. Spanish police and Europol, arrested six people and collected approximately 300,000 doses of…
During National Poison Prevention Week, every day we’re featuring a type of poison that investigators have found in counterfeit medications.
Learn more about heavy metals and actual poisons that investigators have found in fake drugs purchased online by unsuspecting consumers.
Every day of National Poison Prevention Week, we’re featuring a type of poison that investigators have found in counterfeit medications.
Learn more about heavy metals like mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic found in counterfeit drugs.
A new report by online pharmacy security company LegitScript claims that 33% of the world’s non-spam Internet fake pharmacies rely on one domain name registrar. Their new research report shows their willingness to “serve as a safe haven for criminal drug-related activity.”
Yes that’s right, global criminal gangs of medicine counterfeiters can damage your kidneys, causing kidney failure, or cancer.
Learn how to keep your kidneys safe from criminals by first keeping your medicines safe.
Partnership for Safe Medicines sponsored a Congressional Briefing to explore the continued impact of counterfeit drugs on Thursday, March 15 in the Capitol Visitor Center at noon.
Recent Counterfeit Avastin Incident Highlights Need for Further Education Washington, D.C. (DATE, 2012) – In the wake of the recent counterfeit Avastin incident, The Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) today launched two new free resource guides to help doctors and nurses protect their patients from the harm of counterfeit…
Learn how to educate patients about ensuring their medications are safe by
downloading LEADERS guides for doctors, pharmacists and nurses.
UN officials are establishing the first pharmaceutical standards for medicines used in treating African farm animals.
In the wake of cancer clinic scandal involving counterfeit Avastin, a vital medication that breast cancer, lung cancer and colorectal cancer patients take to cut off the blood supply to tumors, new research shows that Avastin may be more vital than ever when used in conjunction with a medication which prevents the cancer from spreading…
Swiss drug maker, Roche, released details of the contents of the counterfeit Avastin found in 19 U.S. cancer clinics.
A week after the US Food and Drug Administration notified 19 clinical medical practices that the Avastin with which they were treating cancer patients was counterfeit and contained no active ingredient, the Health Ministry of Israel announced a shipment of Avastin bearing an identical number to a batch identified as fake was sold in Israel…
Patients can take measures to protect themselves against counterfeit medications, says Connie Jung from the Office of Drug Security, Integrity and Recall of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Speaking at the 2011 Partnership for Safe Medicines Interchange, she said that patients first of all need to be aware of the risk of receiving counterfeit…
Cooperation between the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and the USFDA brought the counterfeit Avastin distribution to light in the U.S. when MHRA officials let U.S. Food and Drug Administration agents know in December that they suspected the problem.
MHRA officials notified U.S. agents and Roche, which led Roche to test and confirm the vital life-saving medication as counterfeit last week, reported Reuters.
“As tragic as this incident is, it is to the credit of the manufacturer and law enforcement that they’ve been able to track down the source of the supplier of the counterfeit medication and contact their other customers. In many countries counterfeits make their way to patients without anyone ever being held accountable,” said Partnership for Safe Medicine’s board member Tom Kubic, President and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Security Institute.
Connie Jung, of the FDA’s Office of Drug Security, said it was possible that more than the 19 originally notified practices could be involved and warned that if a price appears to be too good to be true, it probably is.
Sources say that Montana Health Care Solutions sold the vials for 25% less than the expected cost, reports ABC World News.
Patients are beginning to be aware of the counterfeits, with growing outrage.
Said cancer patient Diane Barraza to ABC World News, “To sit in the chemo chair and watch that stuff drop into my veins,” who lives in Fullerton, Calif., with her 6-year-old daughter. “It’s all I’ve got. And it might just be water?”
The FDA has issued letters to 19 US medical practices that purchased medication from a foreign supplier, Quality Specialty Products (QSP), warning that drugs distributed by QSP are known to be unapproved by the FDA, and in at least one instance verified counterfeit.
QSP, also known as Montana Health Care Solutions, has been identified by the FDA as the distributor of counterfeit Avastin. Roche AG, the manufacturer, has said that the counterfeit Avastin was tested and found to contain no active ingredient. Avastin is FDA approved for use in metastatic colorectal cancer, advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer, metastatic kidney cancer, and glioblastoma.
A counterfeit version of Avastin cancer therapy has been found in the U.S. announced manufacturer Roche Holding AG, a Swiss company.
Vials of the medication were tested by Roche and found to not contain the active ingredients, according to Roche’s Genentech unit, reported The Wall Street Journal.
This is a reprint of the FDA alert. Regeneca, Inc. announced today that it is conducting a voluntary nationwide recall of RegenArouse, Lot Number 130100, because FDA lab analysis has confirmed the presence of Tadalafil making these products unapproved new drugs. Tadalafil is an FDA-approved drug used as treatment for male Erectile Dysfunction (ED). The…
Clemsford Crown Court sentenced two men who pleaded guilty to advertising and selling prescription only medicines on websites. The two Essex residents, Steven Corbersmith, 35, from Frinton-on-Sea, and Stefa Hazell, 28, from Kirby-le-Soken. ran two websites that illegally sold prescription only medications clomiphene citrate, used for fertility enhancement, and anabolic steroids, reported the UK’s Medicines…
On January 19, 2012, AstraZeneca sent members of Congress a letter supporting legislation to increase penalties for counterfeit prescription drug crime.
The letters were sent to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Representative Linda Sanchez (D-CA), and Representative Patrick Meehan (R-PA), bill sponsors along with Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT.).
The most potent anti-malarial drug has been found in counterfeit version in 11 African countries. On top of not curing patients sick with deadly malaria, lower than therapeutic doses of the active ingredient artemisinin in the fake meds can cause the parasites to develop resistance to the medication. In essence, the counterfeit drugs are likely to cause a mutation in the parasite, creating a newer, deadlier version of malaria not able to be cured by any known medication.
The Partnership for Safe Medicines released a video about the recent conviction of counterfeit drug seller Manuel Calvelo on youtube. The video, available here, is narrated by counterfeit medicine victim Rick Roberts, a patient advocate who has spoken about his experience receiving vital life-saving medicines that turned out to be fakes in front of Congress and at the Interchange.
Roberts explains the case of Manuel Calvelo, a Belgian citizen who ran numerous online fake pharmacies that sold so-called generic versions of non-generic drugs that claimed to treat serious health concerns, such as a heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Instead the medicines were tested and found to be fakes by FDA agents.
On the occasion of the silver jubilee of its enactment, the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 was commemorated in Kochi at a function organized on the 24th of December by the Partnership for Safe Medicines – India. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. K.V. Thomas, Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution,…
Fairfax County Virginia police seized thousands of doses of prescription medication from stores throughout the county in early December 2011. Stores primarily catering to the Latino population were found in possession of illegal painkillers, birth control pills, antibiotics and other medications allegedly counterfeit according to police authorities, reported the Fairfax Times. Medications were sold by…
A medicine delivery vehicle was hijacked in the Detroit, Michigan area on December 13, by two armed hijackers. FreightWatch International reported that the van contained a tracking device and the police were notified immediately of the hijacking. When police arrived, the criminals gave up both the driver and van unharmed. In addition police recovered over…
A rise in prescription drug addiction fuels the internet medicine selling business, with overseas operations luring U.S. addicts to websites where medication is unregulated, and dangerous.