Counterfeit Medicine News for the Week of September 21, 2020

In PSM’s round-up this week: HHS defies 20 years of expertise and guidance and recent negative feedback to finalize regulations for state-based Canadian drug importation programs, forward movement on the Safe Therapeutics Act, and more #covidscam and counterfeit drug news.

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September 9, 2020 video: 1,000 Fake Pills per bottle – a bust in Toronto

Last June, police in Ontario, Canada carried out Project Javelin, shutting down a huge counterfeiting operation that manufactured hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills disguised as Oxycocet, a Health Canada-approved generic oxycodone and acetaminophen product with the same ingredients as Percocet.

Update: Executive Director Shabbir Safdar followed up with retired Chief Superintendent of the Ontario Police Don Bell to talk about the impact these criminals could have had. Watch that interview in our September 23rd video, “Deadly Pills in Ontario.”

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August 27, 2020 video: Behind the Scam: When Labels Lie

This week’s “behind the scam” video discusses a real-life example of “Uplabeling,” which is a technique that counterfeit criminals have used in the past to make major profits. Learn about what happened when counterfeiters slipped diluted anemia medicine back into the legitimate drug supply.

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