Spam Sells Drugs From Fake Pharmacies and Infects Computers Too

August 1, 2011

78% of all email is spam, and of that 66% is fake pharmacy spam. But the danger isn’t a clogged inbox: it’s dangerous fake medicine and computers disabled by viruses. While more than 50% of all email is fake pharmacy spam, this is better than it used to be. Drug spam alone used to be…

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Filling prescriptions, safely?

July 31, 2011

Doctors and pharmacists agree that the safest place to purchase medicine is from a brick-and-mortar pharmacy. However, if you are going to buy medicine online, it is important to verify that the online pharmacy is accredited by the National Association of Board of Pharmacists. NABP developed the VIPPS program to help consumers find sources for…

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Only 59 of 8,353 Online Pharmacies Meet Proper Criteria

July 29, 2011

The percentage of “online pharmacies” deemed legitimate through the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy’s accreditation program is staggeringly low. Only 59 of 8,353 online pharmacies – or 0.7% – meet the criteria to be VIPPS-accredited. What are the risks associated with medicines ordered from non-accredited so-called pharmacy sites? Many fake online pharmacies offer foreign,…

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44% of Online Pharmacies Sell Foreign or Non-FDA Approved Medicine

July 29, 2011

If you buy drugs through an “online pharmacy,” there’s a chance that the medicine you receive is not only lacking FDA approval, but actually fake, according to the latest report from NABP. The health and safety risks associated with these counterfeit and non-approved drugs are very real. Right now, this problem is primarily confined to…

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Partnership for Safe Medicines Applauds Public Health Alert on Fake Online Pharmacies

July 28, 2011

Washington, D.C. (July 28, 2011) – Bryan A. Liang, MD, PhD, JD, vice president of the Partnership for Safe Medicines, a non-profit dedicated to curbing counterfeit drugs, today issued the following statement on the public health alert issued today by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy regarding the widespread prevalence of fake online pharmacies.…

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Public Health Alert! Over 3,600 Online Pharmacies Are Selling Non-FDA-Approved Medicine

July 28, 2011

In an effort to raise public awareness about the dangers of medicines purchased through fake pharmacies online, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) today issued a rare “public health alert.”

A new study by NABP found that 96 percent of 8,000 rogue websites analyzed continue to operate out of compliance with U.S. pharmacy laws, fuel prescription drug abuse, and provide an outlet for counterfeit medicines to enter the U.S. drug supply – all of which significantly endanger the health and safety of Americans. Most of these sites will sell without a valid prescription and 3,687 offer non-FDA-approved drugs. They could be selling dangerous counterfeit medicines that may contain toxic ingredients or not enough of the active ingredient to do what the medicine is supposed to do.

In the announcement of the alert, NABP warned, “The fake online pharmacy crisis has reached an epidemic level, they prey on prescription drug abusers and the most vulnerable members of society who rely on medicine every day for their health. They offer easy access to potent medicines without a prescription and indiscriminately push dangerous counterfeit drugs.

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Arsenic and Floor Polish Found in Some Counterfeit Medicine

July 27, 2011

Did you know that some ingredients found in counterfeit medicines include arsenic, floor polish, nickel, and other potentially harmful elements? They are made to look real, but often are not anything like the real medicine. Learn more by clicking here. Do we really want these counterfeit meds crossing our borders and infecting our drug supply?…

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Medicines in a new and different class – Biologics require their own regulation

July 26, 2011

Presidential candidate Barack Obama recently announced a plan to give $6 billion a year in tax credits to small businesses to encourage them to provide health insurance to employees. According to Reuters, Obama would pay for this by “making so-called ‘biologic’ drugs easier to bring to market in generic form.” Read the original article

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EU Customs seized more than $1.4 billion in fake goods

July 26, 2011

A European Union annual report found customs officials last year seized more than 100 million pieces of fake goods, including counterfeit medicines, that had a street value of over $1.4 billion, much of it purchased on the internet.

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Check out this unusual scene in China

July 26, 2011

A steamroller crushing thousands of boxes of prescription medicines. Why? Despite looking very real, these drugs are counterfeit and dangerous. Globally, the threat of fake medicine is very real.

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