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.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MorePartnership 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.“
Read MoreA 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.
Read MoreThere 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…
Read More“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.
Read MoreView 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.…
Read MoreHow 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.
Read MoreIn 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.
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