In a statement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. discussed the agency’s continuing efforts to combat the spread of illicit opioids and to ensure the security of America’s drug supply chain. Included in their recent efforts, Commissioner Gottlieb noted that the agency has stepped up enforcement and interdiction work at International Mail Facilities and shut down websites illegally selling potentially dangerous, unapproved, and misbranded versions of opioid medications to U.S. citizens…
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Thursday, January 17th, 2019 was a busy day for emergency services in Seattle, Washington due to seven overdoses. Public Health – Seattle & King County issued a public warning about a potentially bad batch of drugs laced with fentanyl – both illicit and counterfeit pills – having caused the overdoses…
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The U.S. Department of Justice announced a 26-month prison sentence for Tzvi Lexier, a principal at TC Medical Group. After fighting extradition from Canada, Lexier pleaded guilty in federal court for his role that saw over $18 million in misbranded and counterfeit drugs smuggled into the U.S. and sold to doctors’ offices around the country…
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On Thursday, January 31, 2018, the Partnership for Safe Medicines held two briefings in Washington, D.C. to inform members of Congress and their staff about the dangers posed to Americans by counterfeit medicines. The events each had three panels and looked at how fake medicines have affected individuals and law enforcement, and also at the roles played by international bad actors and drug cartels…
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Traveling to foreign countries for a medical procedure is nothing new, but a dozen Americans who recently traveled to Tijuana, Mexico ended up bringing home something they never dreamed of: a potentially deadly strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria…
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The 9th Judicial District Drug Task Force received an award recently at the annual meeting of the Tennessee Narcotic Officers Association. Among their many accomplishments this year, this task force was involved in seizing 10,000 Xanax pills shipped from Canada to a Kingston couple…
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In this February 4th, 2019 editorial for Colorado Politics, Denver resident Ali Schroer warns, “I experienced firsthand the dangers of counterfeit, imported drugs, and was critically ill for months as we sought to uncover the source of my illness.”
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On Thursday, January 31, 2019, victims of counterfeit medicines and their families, local law enforcement, former DEA agents, and other experts in the fight against counterfeit medicines met for a discussion about the widespread impact fake drugs are having on communities and on the enormous burden the problem places on regulators who are responsible for our drug safety.
Learn more and watch the briefing here.
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Former FBI Director Louis Freeh has released an addendum to his 2017 Report on the Potential Impact of Drug Importation Proposals on U.S. Law Enforcement, concluding:
…the government has not done enough to evaluate and improve the capacity of law enforcement to deal with a new pipeline of drugs into the U.S. drug supply, all while . . . more illegal drugs are being shipped to the United States. Passing any drug importation scheme would erase the little progress we have made and set law enforcement further back on their heels.
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In this editorial, which first appeared in The Washington Times on January 29, 2019, former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh revisits the problem drug importation poses to law enforcement and regulatory systems already overburdened by the opioid crisis.
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