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.
A New Jersey couple pleaded guilty to charges they engaged in the unlicensed wholesale distribution of pharmaceuticals, admitting they sold fake drugs manufactured in India to customers in the United States. Nita Patel, 47, and her husband, Harshad, 53, of Closter, pleaded guilty in Camden, New Jersey, on May 16th, 2011, reported the North Jersey…
The FDA has issued an alert warning American consumers to be on the look out for look-alike fake antibiotics. Dietary supplements purporting to have antibiotic or antifungal properties that actually contain no antimicrobial ingredients have been found in five states but may be found elsewhere in the US.
This is a reprint of the FDA alert. Fast Facts The FDA is warning consumers not to use products marketed as dietary supplements that also claim to be antimicrobial (antibiotic, antifungal or antiviral) drugs. These illegal products are falsely promoted with claims to treat illnesses such as upper respiratory infections, sinusitis, pneumonia, bronchitis and the common…
This is a reprint of the FDA alert. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers about a potentially harmful product represented as “ExtenZe,” a dietary supplement for male sexual enhancement. The counterfeit product looks similar to the actual product, but contains hidden ingredients that can cause serious harm to consumers. The counterfeit product…
Australian customs officials in Queensland have stopped 288 packages containing counterfeit medications in the past twelve months, an increase of 7 fold from the previous year. Consumers concerned about costs, or purposefully circumventing the prescription process, have been purchasing everything from weight-loss pills to opiates on line. In many case, the drugs are marketed using…
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) issued a progress report for state and federal regulators summarizing the overwhelming quantity of internet drug outlets selling prescription medications operating out of compliance with laws and patient safety standards.
When a country is large and porous, keeping fake drugs out of the country isn’t as effective as keeping them out of the marketplace with new anti-counterfeit technology, reports Dr. Paul Orhii, of Nigeria.
by Dr. Bryan Liang, VP of the Partnership for Safe Medicines
Recently I was on the Doctor Oz show, which highlighted the public health dangers of counterfeit Botox. The danger here is very real as counterfeit Botox has been growing. The number of counterfeits found are continuing to rise, with the FDA opening 20% more investigations over the past couple of years that include Botox. More recently, Chinese Botox fakes have been found with concentrations differing by 500% than stated on its label that use materials that may cause severe allergic reactions. Hence, the real scope of the problem is probably much worse.
If you are thinking of getting a Botox treatment, I recommend following the four simple rules below that were discussed on the show yesterday:
Be an informed consumer
Learn about what are safe sources for pharmaceuticals, and learn how to be skeptical of deals that seem “too good to be true”. When it comes to medications, they probably are. You can learn more at the consumer section of our website.
Know who is performing your treatment
Plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and properly trained opthalmologists and otolaryngologists (ENT doctors) are the only ones who should be injecting Botox. It is possible to get certified to inject Botox without any medical training, but I don’t recommend using these persons because they may lack training in the event of a medical emergency.
Bright Ekweremadu, the Managing Director of the Society for Family Health (SFH) blames “rampant adulteration” of anti-malaria drugs for malaria rates in Nigeria.
Elisane Garcia of Hooksett, New Hampshire, pled guilty to a four-count indictment charging her with smuggling goods into the U.S., selling misbranded drugs, possession of controlled substances with the intent to distribute and money laundering. Garcia paid $45,000 for thousands of pills, known as “Brazilian diet pills,” delivered to her from suppliers in Brazil. These…
This is a reprint of the FDA alert. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today announced a joint effort to remove products from the market that make unproven claims to treat, cure, and prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Among the products targeted in today’s action are Medavir, Herpaflor,…
An Idaho federal court sentenced a Vista, California nutritional supplement maker, Tribravus Enterprises, for the unlawful manufacture and distribution of unapproved synthetic steroids in over-the-counter pills marketed as “dietary supplements.”
Vietnamese officials have discovered counterfeit antibiotics and are alerting consumers and pharmacists.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office is suing two American companies for distributing products falsely advertised as antibiotics that were marketed primarily to Spanish speakers in the U.S.
After an Austin hospital alerted authorities that pediatric patients had been given fake antibiotics, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) issued a warning and opened an investigation.
A German NGO, “Doctors for Developing Countries,” is finding its work in Africa hampered by overwhelming volumes of fake drugs in the supply chain. It is using a new tool that provides identifies some types of fakes, but not all of them.
Texas officials are investigating several over-the-counterfeit medications falsely advertised as antibiotics and warning people to avoid these fakes.
Doctors in an Austin hospital reported that several children were given these products by their parents, prompting the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to issue a warning and open an investigation.
Rogue pharmacies are now advertising by using Facebook’s social networking interface.
A brief search on Facebook for term “Viagra” popped up 90 pages.One page, entitled “viagra” [sic] is a Product/Service page and has almost 7,000 fans.
Police raided a Northamptom, UK house in April 9 and uncovered more than 8,000 tablets fake pills suspected by police of having been imported from outside the country. Northampton prosecutors have charged Victor Cheke, 41, with importing a prescription drug for sale without authority, reports The Northampton Chronicle & Echo. At the arraignment, the court…
Pharmaceutical cargo theft rates have stayed flat since 2008, after a 283 percent increase between 2006 and 2008. Ed Silverman of Pharmalot reports that “attempts to curtail hijacked trucks and warehouse burglaries may be making a different in the rate of pharmaceutical thefts” due to increased vigilance by drug makers. Most pharmaceutical cargo thefts are…
The International Pharmaceutical Excipients Council is cooperating with FDA officials to provide excipient samples for counterfeit and contamination testing in a database collected by the Division of Pharmaceutical Analysis (DPA) within the US FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). Initial screenings will be done using four technologies to quickly identify materials…
The Food and Drug Administration announced the unsealing of an indictment on March 25, 2011, after the arrest of two Americans charged with manufacturing and selling fake medication in New Jersey. Brian Parker, 27, and Michelle Pfeiffer, 24, of Brielle and Toms River, NJ, respectively, were charged with conspiracy to misbrand drugs, impeding the lawful…
Two more conspirators were sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiring to unlawfully distribute human growth hormone and anabolic steroids through an online pharmacy on April 20th, 2011 in Miami, Florida.
William L. Dailey, 72, of Boca Raton, Florida and James M. D’Amico, 58, a former licensed dentist from Cape Coral, Florida worked for Powermedica, Inc., a pharmacy in Deerfield Beach, Florida, and were sentenced in March and April 2011, after their co-conspirators, Daniel L. Dailey, the CEO, and Manuel Sanguily, a prescribing physician, were sentenced last year, announced Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and David W. Bourne, Special Agent in Charge, FDA.
Powermedica sold hGH and anabolic steroids to customers nationwide. Doctors involved with the illegal online pharmacy would merely rubber stamp the orders for the drugs without examining the patients or even reviewing their medical histories.
Defendant Daniel L. Dailey was the Chief Executive Officer of Powermedica and his father, William L. Dailey, was Powermedica’s president and Chief Operating Officer. Manuel Sanguily and James M. D’Amico signed the drug orders that purported to be “prescriptions” for the dispensing of the hGH and anabolic steroids to Powermedica’s nationwide clientele.
The defendants all admitted that they knew that the hGH and anabolic steroids Powermedica distributed were being used for performance enhancement and admitted that they knew that Powermedica’s sales staff, who were not medically trained, were deciding in consultation with the customers which drugs the customers were to receive. In addition, they all admitted that the licensed practitioners, such as Sanguily and D’Amico, were simply signing the prepared drugs orders without meeting with, talking to, or physically examining the customers, and without reviewing the customer’s medical history record or blood test results, announced Ferrer and Bourne.
April 25, 2011 – Cleveland, Ohio prosecutors have charged four people in a forty count indictment for allegedly conducting a major prescription drug diversion ring, dealing millions in painkillers. Cuyahoga County prosecutors said that drugs were obtained with the help of a pharmacy insider and then sold on the street. Ebonie Hubbard, a pharmacy technician…
Life-threatening counterfeit diabetes test strips were discovered in India, five years after similar fakes were discovered in the U.S. Officials believe the fakes were manufactured in China and packaged with false labeling in India for intranational distribution. Johnson & Johnson spokesman David Detmers told the Wall Street Journal that they believe the fake strips were…
Thirteen suspects were charged by the Luwan District Prosecutors’ Office of manufacturing and selling a fake cancer drug that caused eye infections in 61 people in Shanghai on April 26, 2011. 116 patients of Shanghai No. 1 People’s Hospital were prescribed Avastin, a cancer drug also used to treat macular degeneration in September 2010. Of…
Indian police busted a fake medicine packing unit in Patna, India on April 22, 2011. Police led a team to a house owned by Vidyanand Thakur in Nagwan village and seized fake medication in powder form, wrappers, a punching machine and medicine filled in bottles, reports The Times of India. The Superintendent of Police said…
Early warning signs suggest spread of an artemisinin-resistant strain of malaria to the Thai-Myanmar border. Charles Delacollette, coordinator of the WHO’s Bangkok-based Mekong Malaria Programme, said, “what we are seeing along the Thai-Myanmar border seems equally serious … to what we had at the Thai-Cambodian one,” reports IRIN, the news service of the UN Office…
Tanzania is receiving a new mobile phone SMS message system to monitor the supply of regulated malaria drugs, announced Roll Back Malaria on April 22, 2011. Roll Back Malaria is a partnership with the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Novartis, Vodacom and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The nationwide program comes…
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have discovered that millions of dollars of donated malaria drugs have been stolen since 2009, vastly exceeding the suspected levels of theft.
The Global Fund developed a new anti-corruption program after exposed grant fraud prompted donors to demand greater transparency, reports the Associated Press.
Officials identified thirteen countries, mostly in Africa, where the drugs have gone missing from government supplies and have been resold, possibly tampered with or improperly stored, on the black market.
“Heat, high humidity and exposure to sunshine can cause accelerated decomposition of the stolen product,” says Dr. Marv Shepherd, Director of the Center for Pharmacoeconomic Studies at University of Texas-Austin’s College of Pharmacy. When these products are re-sold on the black market, they could be ineffectve at treating malaria and contribute to the growing resistance problem.
Global Fund spokesman Jon Liden said that $2.5 milion worth of malaria drugs are suspected of being stolen from Toga, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Swaziland and Cambodia, adding, “We take this very seriously and we will do what it takes to protect our investment.”
Western Cambodia is undergoing an outbreak of artemisinin resistant malaria, the first known worldwide, caused, in part, by poor malarial treatments. The treatments are poor due to improper drug treatment regiments, or because medications purchased for these regiments may have been diluted or stored improperly and therefore weakened. Additionally, counterfeit pills with limited or no effectiveness may have been repackaged in the legitimate medicine packaging.
Tom Kubic, President and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Security Institute is concerned. “Theft of this magnitude of life saving medication is a very serious global health concern. Every time medication leaves the legitimate supply chain it is vulnerable to tampering, including dilution of injectable drugs. Additionally, there have been incidents were counterfeit medicines were found in genuine, reused packaging. Gravely ill patients are at risk of receiving ineffective treatment and again, the most needy suffer.”
On April 15, 2011, Kurt Walter Donsbach, 75, of San Diego, was sentenced to a year in county jail and probation of ten years after pleading guilty in December to 13 felony charges including unlawfully selling fake drugs to cancer patients, practicing medicine without a license and attempted grand theft.
On April 18, 2011, a Maryland woman was charged in federal court with selling large numbers of counterfeit erectile dysfunction medication to undercover agents. Sarah Ann Knott, 28, of Waldorf, told an undercover postal inspector that she could sell thousands of ED pills in a matter of months and kept them out of reach of…
FDA officials are reminding pet owners to verify their online pharmacy’s authenticity before purchasing heartworm medication for their pets this spring. With spring comes heartworms, and pet owners now go to purchase the potentially expensive medication necessary for the health of domestic pets. However, unsuspecting consumers could be giving their pets counterfeit medications which will…
In Accra, Ghana, scientists from the national laboratories of Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and Sierra Leon, are being trained this week to use the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention’s database of medicine samples in order to better identify falsified and counterfeit medicines that plague their countries’ marketplaces. U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is a nonprofit public health organization…
Scott LaGanga, Executive Director of the Partnership for Safe Medicines, will address pharmaceutical scientists from industry, government, academia, and others on the topic of counterfeiting and patient safety on August 18, 2011 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy conference entitled, “The Role of CMC Quality in Ensuring Patient Safety: From Development through Commercialization.”…
Chinese police have seized 14,185 suspects since November, 2010, in a campaign to halt the trade in counterfeit goods, including software, food, drugs, and luggage. The Ministry of Public Security announced April 12, 2011, that the suspects were involved in more than 8,000 investigations into counterfeiting and 7,000 production and sales outlets, reported China Daily.…
Japanese police arrested two people for allegedly selling fake drugs to protect from radiation exposure in Tokyo. Natsumi Chiba, 29, and Fumitaka Umewaka, 50, allegedly sold “Premium Zeolite,” advertising it as a substance that absorbs and removes radiation from the body. Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department said that they sold the drug online to people in…
The World Health Assembly (WHA) held a drug counterfeiting session in Geneva, Switzerland, where Dr. Paul Orhii, vice-chair of the 193 member-nation International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force (IMPACT) based in Geneva rallied members to come to consensus and move forward to fight the drug safety problems caused by fake medication distribution. Orhii, also Director-General…
2011 World Health Day was commemorated by WHO regional director, Luis Gomes Sambo, by urging leaders to fight drug resistance by removing counterfeit medicine, bad prescribing habits and over exposure to sub-optimal quantities of medications. “If not properly managed, resistant germs may spread and cause severe diseases. However, attempts have been made to overcome drug…
After being convicted of conspiring to traffic fake medication, En Wang, 32, owner of a Houston based company, while free on bond, fled the country prior to his sentencing. Wang was sentenced in absentia to 33 months in federal prison without parole on March 28, 2011. Homeland Security Investigators believe that Wang left the US…
Peter Gillespie, 64, of Windsor, Berkshire, was found guilty of all charges at Croydon Crown Court for what the MHRA has called “the most serious known breach of counterfeit medicine in the regulated supply chain.”
In the trial, which began in November 2010, Gillespie and four associated businessmen were accused of running a fake cancer, heart, and mental health medication distribution scheme, in which they were accused of infiltrating the legitimate supply chain, based on Gillespie’s well known stature in the pharmaceutical wholesale field, with fake medications imported from Asia.
Gillespie was sentenced to eight years, and his four co-defendants were acquitted, announced the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Gillespie was charged with importing over two million doses of fake medication for serious health concerns, including prostate cancer, blood clots and psychosis. Gillespie was convicted of importing over 2 million doses into the UK in a five month period. More than half the medications were seized by MHRA, however 900,000 doses reached pharmacies and patients, with more than 700,000 of those doses unrecoverable.
He was affiliated with Kevin Xu, convicted in the United States of importation of the same chemically deficient medications. U.S. Federal Customs and Immigration authorities, alerted to Xu’s role in the UK debacle, organized a sting operation where he sold large quantities of counterfeit medication to undercover agents. He was tried in Federal Court and found guilty of selling counterfeit goods, ordered pay $1.3 million in restitution and sentenced to over six years in prison.
Finnish customs agents have borrowed a trained drug sniffing dog with an expertise in counterfeit medicine to patrol baggage and mail.
A fluffy black and white spotted dog, named Springer, has been trained to identify narcotics, like pungent smelling hashish, as well as scents indiscernible to the human nose, like fake erectile dysfunction medication.
Prosecuting lawyer, Andrew Marshall, told Croydon Crown Court, that the five defendants accused of selling fake Chinese-manufactured medicine were deliberately “protect[ing] their dirty business.” Five pharmaceutical wholesaler businessmen, who had done business together legitimately for many years, are accused of deliberately purchasing fake cancer, heart disease, and mental health medications and selling them into the…
The People’s Republic of China has removed a maximum sentencing requirement of three years imprisonment for convicted medicine counterfeiters. The change in Article 141 of the Criminal Law has removed the upper limit for jail terms. Additionally, the new law removes the test of demonstrable harm, in other words, the counterfeiters can be prosecuted for…
Sri Lankan stakeholders gathered in Kandy on April 4th to educate pharmacists “to protect Sri Lankan families from counterfeit drugs” at the Sri Lanka Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industry conference (SLCPI). Promoted also by the US Embassy, American Chamber of Commercial and the National Intellectual Property Organization, the seminar was attended by Health Ministry and Drug…
The Ugandan National Drug Authority issued a public alert on April 3rd, 2011, that counterfeit contraceptives are on sale in country. Frederick Ssekyana, the Drug Authority’s public relations officer, warned consumers to look carefully at the security features on the pills, reports the Ugandan news source, New Vision. The back side of the pill package…
A new database of medicines will provide African, South American and Southeast Asian governments with technological data to use in identifying fake medicine. The Promoting the Quality of Medicines (PQM) program developed by USAID and the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) has launched a new public database of drugs collected and analyzed in collaboration with government…
The FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations reported that 72 cases had been opened up in 2010, 11% more than the year before, and at 3-5 times what was reported a decade ago. Reports Pharmaceutical Commerce, Deputy Administrator Dr. Ilisa Bernstein cited those figures during a presentation for the Pew Prescription Project in Washington, DC in…
This is a reprint of the FDA alert. ISSUE: FDA lab analysis of X-Hero found the product contains sulfosildenafil, the analogue of the active ingredient of an FDA-approved drug used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED), making X-Hero an unapproved drug. In addition, FDA analysis of Male Enhancer sample found the product contains tadalafil, the active…
Peruvian officials have confiscated 20 tons of fake medication since 2007. 30% of the fakes confiscated were counterfeit antibiotics and another 30% fraudulent analgesics. Peru’s General Agency for Medicine and Drugs (Digemid) reported that antibiotics, analgesics and anti-inflammatories are the most fake medications in Peru, reported Living In Peru. “What is most often faked are…
In three separate suburban communities, people were arrested this week for possession of counterfeit drugs in the Washington, DC area and in Ohio suburbs. In Findlay, Ohio, Matthew Snodgrass, 23, faces charges of trafficking in drugs and counterfeit controlled substances, reports WFIN. Snodgrass is accused of selling ecstacy and a fake medication within 100 feet…
Two men, driving two separate cargo trucks of medication disappeared on March 13th in Russia, as did their trucks and the cargo within them, after crossing the Russian border from Finland. The two men, aged 60 and 25, disappeared on March 13. Subsequently, the two trucks they were driving were found without license plates, empty…
The reality that key issues in healthcare go beyond geo-
political lines is evident by challenges associated with important public
health concerns. Pandemics, human-sourced disasters, drug safety, HIV-
AIDS and TB control and treatment all represent global circumstances
that require a wide array of stakeholder efforts to effectively address.
Simultaneously, a much broader range of global health organizations have
increasingly played a role in addressing these and other international
public health needs beyond traditional public health authorities.
Foundations, international agencies outside the health realm, and the
private sector have also become key participants in creating policies and
programs in an effort to promote global public health.
Hence, the Institute of Health Law Studies (IHLS) convened the 7th Annual
San Diego Health Policy Conference, entitled “Public-Private Partnerships
in Global Health.” The conference explored different models of public-
private partnerships emerging from the expansion of global health activities
to these larger bodies of groups, and will provide lessons for participants,
providers, and policymakers as to how to best engage these entities and
systems to most effectively and efficiently advance global health.
The reality that key issues in healthcare go beyond geo-
political lines is evident by challenges associated with important public
health concerns. Pandemics, human-sourced disasters, drug safety, HIV-
AIDS and TB control and treatment all represent global circumstances
that require a wide array of stakeholder efforts to effectively address.
Simultaneously, a much broader range of global health organizations have
increasingly played a role in addressing these and other international
public health needs beyond traditional public health authorities.
Foundations, international agencies outside the health realm, and the
private sector have also become key participants in creating policies and
programs in an effort to promote global public health.
Hence, the Institute of Health Law Studies (IHLS) convened the 7th Annual
San Diego Health Policy Conference, entitled “Public-Private Partnerships
in Global Health.” The conference explored different models of public-
private partnerships emerging from the expansion of global health activities
to these larger bodies of groups, and will provide lessons for participants,
providers, and policymakers as to how to best engage these entities and
systems to most effectively and efficiently advance global health.
Tom Kubic speaking at another conferenceby Safe Medicines via Flickr. The reality that key issues in healthcare go beyond geo- political lines is evident by challenges associated with important public health concerns. Pandemics, human-sourced disasters, drug safety, HIV- AIDS and TB control and treatment all represent global circumstances that require a wide array of stakeholder…
Investigators at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office have filed indictments against fifteen Seoul pharmacists for selling fake erectile dysfunction medications manufactured in China. Reports the Korea Herald, this is the first time pharmacists have been charged with selling fake medication in Seoul. Prosecutors say the pharmacists bought the medication from smugglers and then sold…
Responding to the ongoing cases of counterfeiters in their countries, Argentinian and Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturers are installing anti-counterfeiting solutions in their products. Gador Laboratories, located in Buenos Aires, is deploying a radio frequency identification (RFID) solution to track products and pallets, after a month-long pilot. The system has three levels of security with item-level RFID…
Instances of elderly exploitation are rising and protective services in Pike County are taking a lead in educating senior citizens to avoid counterfeit drug scams. Providing services for senior citizens over the age of 60, Robin LoDolce, the Executive Director for the Pike aging office, is concerned about the recent trends in exploitation, reports the…
The Irish medicines Board (IMB) detained almost double the quantity of counterfeit and illegal medicines in 2010 as it did in 2009 with a 500% increase in the quantity of illegal weight loss products many of which contained the dangerous drug sibutramine which can cause heart attack and stroke. IMB said there was a 66%…
Tom Kubic at the Congressional briefing on March 30, 2011. See all the photos. Counterfeit drugs – like the 20,000 pills seized last month by U.S. Customs official at Kennedy Airport in New York – defraud consumers and deny patients therapies that can alleviate suffering and save lives. Unfortunately, in some cases, these drugs have caused great…
Philadelphia resident Mimi Trieu, 46, was sentenced on March 10th to three months in prison for importing and distributing four million fake diet pills that contained a carcinogenic chemical solvent among other dangerous ingredients. The U.S. Department of Justice announced her sentencing was a result of her guilty plea to an 18 count indictment including…
Due to public concern related to the nuclear incident in Japan, the FDA is warning consumers to be wary of drugs falsely touting radiation exposure treatment.
Potassium iodide (KI) has been approved by the FDA to prevent thyroid cancer in people internally contaminated with radioactive iodine, however the U.S. government is not recommending that residents take KI, even as a preventative. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission indicates that no part of the U.S. is expected to experience any harmful levels of radioactivity.
The FDA is warning consumers to be wary of internet sites and retail outlets promoting products that make claims to prevent or treat radiation, these claims may be false and the products may not be FDA approved.
Ex-chief of a British pharmaceutical wholesaler, Richard Kemp, pleaded ignorance on the stand when accused of conspiring to sell counterfeit cancer medication made in Singapore to British residents. The Flintshire Chronicle reports that he says he didn’t know he was funding a counterfeit operation when he agreed to bankroll Consolidated Medical Supplies (CMS) and their…
A California resident pleaded guilty on March 17th, 2011 to selling counterfeit drugs, illegally imported from China, on craigslist.com. United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Troy James Taylor, 39, of Elk Grove, CA, pleaded guilty to selling fake drugs from May 2007 through March of 2008 after being caught receiving a package of…
On March 15, The White House issued legislative recommendations to Congress and advocated for increased vigilance in the fight against fake medicine. Victoria Espinel, U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, said on the White House blog that “we are seeking six legislative changes to fight counterfeits drugs, including increased criminal penalties for counterfeit drug offenses, particularly…
£1 million pounds of suspected fake medicine was seized by British agents of The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and three men were arrested in London. Three residencies were raided, as well as a storage unit, in the north and east areas of London where more than 300,000 tablets of fake medications were…
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said his panel would take up legislation to combat counterfeit medication distribution following a “60 Minutes” story exposing the importation of fake drugs into the U.S. each year Sen. Leahy said he was developing legislation to give the Justice Department stronger tools to fight counterfeit medicine sellers,…
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said his panel would take up legislation to combat counterfeit medication distribution following a “60 Minutes” story exposing the importation of fake drugs into the U.S. each year Sen. Leahy said he was developing legislation to give the Justice Department stronger tools to fight counterfeit medicine sellers,…
David Luna, Director for Anticrime Programs in the State Department Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs opened the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Dialogue on Corruption and Illicit Trade: Combating Counterfeit Medicines and Strengthening Supply Chain Integrity on March 2, 2011 in Washington, DC. Mr. Luna framed the conference’s agenda for the day by…
Partnership for Safe Medicines Board of Directors’ member Thomas Kubic, President and CEO, Pharmaceutical Security Institute, today issued the following statement regarding last night’s 60 Minutes segment on counterfeit drug sellers. “The global epidemic of fake medicines is a serious public health threat, and consumers’ lack of awareness of it only adds to the danger.…
An Australian pharmaceutical company was broken into and robbed of almost 260 pounds of prescription medication on March 7, 2011. The Australian company, Jalco Group, was robbed of 110 pounds of pseudoephedrine and 150 pounds o opioid analgesic codeine estimated by the police to be worth be resold on the street for $43 milion, reports…
A proposal to increase the penalties for stealing medical products by bringing medical theft under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law has been brought before the Senate. Supported by Sens. Bill Nelson of Florida, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Charles Schumer of New York and Jay…
Successes from the use of artemisinin combination therapies have reduced malaria-related child mortality in half in parts of Africa. However counterfeit artemisinin drugs with lower than prophylactic dosages are creating resistance and turning the tide against the children of Africa. Karen Masterson reports for The Henry L. Stimson Center that malarial parasites “have neutralized the…
Buying medicine online has increased in popularity, but the risks of purchasing online are little understood by consumers. Purchasing from a rogue pharmacy, often indistinguishable from a legitimate one, can put your health and money in the hand of international scam artists that may send you pills that do nothing or make you sicker. Marketwatch’s…
The Partnership for Safe Medicines today commended Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) for introducing legislation to curb prescription drug theft
Pharmacy by 12th St David via Flickr. Robert Smoley, a 59 year-old Miami-Dade lawyer, pleaded guilty in federal court to selling millions of pharmaceutical drugs without prescriptions over the Internet on March 3, 2011. Smoley admitted that he distributed in excess of $48 million worth of medicine through the mail. Federal agents said after accepting…
Dr. Margaret Chan Director-General World Health Organizationby World Economic Forum via Flickr. On February 28, 2011, Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said that the World Health Organization does not conflate intellectual property issues with those of patient safety in their concerns for counterfeit medication proliferation. Opening the Work Group of Member…
Hungarian National Anti-Counterfeit Board (HENT) announced that starting March 1, 2011, a new law on counterfeit drugs will increase fines on unlicensed producers and traders to HUF 100,000. The purpose of the new law is to restrict unlawful profiteering and prevent fakes from entering the legitimate supply chain. The new law commissions officials to confiscate…
On February 25, 2011, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) announced that more than 8.5 million pills were intercepted at the border in 2010. Head of Border Force, Brodie Clark, said “This massive haul makes it clear just how seriously we take the smuggling of fake and unlicensed medicines. As well as stopping drugs, weapons and…
On March 4, 2011, a one-day forum on pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting measures will be held in Mumbai at the Lalit Hotel. Sponsored by FDASmart, a company that trains pharmaceutical manufacturers in regulation and research studies, representatives of various companies that provide anti-counterfeiting solutions for medicine as well as regulatory agents and medicine manufactures will present their…
8% of prescription drugs available in the United States are smuggled via online drug scams involving internet pharmacies that sell to Americans. Val Kennedy, pharmaceuticals reporter for the Wall Street Journal’s Marketwatch interviewed Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Bruce Foucart about the risks of online drug purchasing, and prescription drug smuggling…
The World Health Organization released a report on February 25, 2011 that identified substandard anti-malarial medications as one third of all in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania. The rate of failure was highest in Nigeria, with 2 out of three samples failing WHO quality tests, reports The Science and Development Network. Following close…
Washington, D.C. (February 25, 2011) – Partnership for Safe Medicines Board of Directors’ member Bryan A. Liang, MD, PhD, JD, with colleague Tim Mackey, MAS, published an article in this week’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) addressing the online direct to consumer (DTC) advertising market, and specifically how rogue online…
A University College London organic chemistry lecturer was convicted for creating and selling counterfeit medication in the United Kingdom. The Independent reports that chemist Christiaan Winkel, a Dutch national, imported a machine from China and chemicals to make £1.6 million worth of fake erectile dysfunction pills and also used the equipment to make fake Ecstacy.…
At New York’s Kennedy Airport, U.S. Customs and Border Protection flagged a cargo shipment from Hong Kong labeled “Farsan Sweet Dryfruit” for inspection on Thursday, February 17, 2011, and found approximately 20,000 pills inside. Fox News New York reported that officers examined the pills and identified them as counterfeit sildenafil, tadalfil and vardenafil. “The illicit…
Internal documents from ChronoPay, Russia’s largest processor of online payments, have shown that a Russian rogue pharmacy program called Rx-Promotion sold millions of controlled pills including Valium, Percocet, Tramadol and Oxycodone, in 2010 alone, mostly to Americans, without prescription requirements. Reporter Brian Krebs interviewed Pavel Vrublevsky in February 2011, the founder of ChronoPay, and also…
A new pharmaceutical spam campaign misappropriates Google branding to promote a “Google-accredited” online pharmacy portal. Symantec’s MessageLabs intelligence tracked spam email messages promoting online drug sales with a false claim that Google has hosted and approved the pharmacy sites. The link within the email directs to a spammer’s blog on a popular blogging portal,…
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has seen an increase in tainted products marketed as “all natural” or “100% herbal” that contain undeclared pharmaceutical ingredients that could potentially sicken consumers and counterfeit prescription medications that contain inappropriate ingredients or incorrect dosages.
In a news release, the CBP and FDA said that “counterfeiters have become more sophisticated in deceiving consumers. It can be difficult, if not impossible, to tell the real product from an imposter without sophisticated equipment. Counterfeit drugs may look exactly like real FDA-approved medicines, but their quality and safety are unknown. For example, counterfeit products could contain the wrong ingredients and/or varying amounts of the supposed active ingredient.”
Pharmaceutical spammers have been using image hosting services to promote their products and one service has responded by giving its patrons a strong warning. Reports Brian Krebs, Image Shack has replaced the rogue pharmacy images with warning signs, including universal symbols for caution, poison and health hazards. In addition, they’ve replaced the spammers’ catch phrases…
Testifying before the Croydon Crown Court in south London, Peter Gillespie, 64, admitted to aiding in the defrauding of pharmaceutical wholesalers, pharmacists and patients by selling counterfeit cancer drugs, heart disease medication and schizophrenia medication. However, Gillespie denies knowing the false origin of the medication supplied by a business associate he had known for 15…
A federal grand jury has indicted five more people for conspiring to commit extortion under the pretense of being U.S. Food & Drug Administration agents. The false FDA agents allegedly threatened Americans, who had purchased drugs from offshore online pharmacies, with incarceration to extort up to $100,000.
The USFDA announced on February 7th that Jose Miguel Mercado Garcia, 29, of the Dominican Republic, Zulai Morales, 25, of the Dominican Republic, Ramona Pichardo, 51, of New York, New York, Maria Curet, 33, of Providence, Rhode Island, and Milton Goris, 32, of Miami, Florida were indicted. Ramon Pichard was arrested on February 10th, while the remaining defendants are at large.
According to the one count indictment, beginning on December 1, 2007, people claiming to represent pharmaceutical distributors located in the Dominican Republic called and emailed US residents offering to sell pharmaceutical drugs. Purchasers of those pharmaceutical drugs from the Dominican Republic distributors were then instructed to pay via either a money wire service or by credit card.
The indictment alleges that after paying, customers would then receive telephone calls from purported United States FDA agents, who in fact were not FDA agents. The false FDA agents allegedly falsely stated that the customers’ orders from the Dominican Republic had been interdicted, and that the customers now owed fines.
U.S. Canadian Border in Blaine, WA scazon via Flickr. Two Canadians investigated by the United States Food and Drug Administration for selling counterfeit medications were sentenced on February 14th, 2011, after plea bargaining with investigators to avoid trial. Jim and Gregory James Armstrong, father and son, admitted they were smuggling counterfeit erectile dysfunction medication…
German companies are responding to the risk of counterfeit medicine distribution in Europe with the development of new technologies used to authenticate German products with seals and security codes. One manufacturer, Bionorica, is using three-dimensional, optically variable embossed marks created by a Munich company which specializes in printing bank notes. In order to use these…
A St. Louis, Missouri resident, Mark Hughes, 47, was sentenced to four years in prison by U.S. District Court on February 7th, 2011, four selling thousands of counterfeit erectile dysfunction pills. Hughes ordered counterfeit versions of ED drugs online from China and India, and sold them via an illegal and unlicsensed pharmacy and by…
A Providence, Rhode Island resident pleaded guilty on February 8th, 2011, of smuggling erectile dysfunction drugs from the People’s Republic of China falsely labeled as herbal dietary supplements. Anny L. Puello, 32, the owner of JMM LLC, admitted importing thousands of ED drugs that were shipped from a Chinese supplier, Chengdu Kang Quan Health Product Company…
A Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturer has begun supplying the country’s chemists and clinics with life saving medicines packaged with new security codes verifiable by text messaging. The new packaging contains a code revealed by scratching off a code on the medicine package. The consumer can verify the drugs authenticity by sending a text message of the…
In North America, there were 199 reported incidents of counterfeit medicines in 2009, greater than Africa, the Near East, and Eurasia.
As the World Health Organization and its partners are spending $175 million to block the spread of artemisinin-resistant malaria along the border of Cambodia and Thailand by providing free care, free medication, and a pervasive police force hunting down fake drugs military troops from both countries are exchanging gunfire
U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is providing five sub-Saharan African countries with technical aid to improve the public access to high quality, affordable medicines, announced the organization on February 8th, 2011. USP has launched a pilot Technical Assistance Program (TAP) to provide developing countries with capacity building in medicine quality evaluation. Participating countries will be provided…
Five companies have been issued patents for anti-counterfeiting technology ranging from packaging innovation to spectroscopy. Securing Pharma reports that Microsoft, AlpVision, Axsun, AuthentiForm, and CSEM have been issued patents for anti-counterfeiting medicine technologies. Microsoft has developed a method to create counterfeit resistant labels using unique images on labels that are not economically easy to duplicate,…
An online pharmacy operator, convicted in May 2009 for distributing approximately 44 million doses of prescription medication to consumers without valid prescriptions, has forfeited $12 million in profit. Approximately $2.67 million went to the local law enforcement agencies that prosecuted him, reports the Orlando Sentinel.
Jude LaCour and his father Jeffery LaCour, ran an online pharmacy under the corporation name, “Jive Network, Inc.” which distributed controlled substances and other prescription drugs to customers throughout the United States who did not have valid prescriptions, reported Network World.
LaCour, a Daytona Beach resident, was found guilty of 52 counts of money laundering and drug-trafficking offenses involving the sale of controlled substances over the internet.