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The US Food and Drug Administration is advising American consumers in a new campaign to avoid counterfeit medications by purchasing only from US state-licensed pharmacies.
Read MoreThe internet provides thousands of clickable links to solutions and treatments for the most common men’s health concerns, but how many of them are providing authentic, safe medication?
Learn more about common men’s health issues and how counterfeiters prey on them.
Read MoreLeading Health Care, Business, Labor and Advocacy Groups Join
Together to Oppose Drug Importation as Part of the Prescription
Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA)
Importation Undermines Drug Safety Protocols, Could Lead to Influx of Dangerous Counterfeit Drugs
Washington, D.C. (May 21, 2012) – In a letter sent today to members of the U.S. Senate, the Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM), a public health group comprised of more than 65 organizations committed to the safety of prescription drugs and protecting consumers against counterfeit, substandard or otherwise unsafe medicines, joined with leading patient, health care, business and advocacy groups in strongly opposing any amendments that would permit legal importation as part of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). If allowed to move forward, importation would unnecessarily expose patients to increased risk of dangerous and potentially life-threatening counterfeit medicines making their way into the United States.
Among the organizations included in the letter: the American Pharmacists Association, the Kidney Cancer Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Pharmaceutical Industry Labor Management Association (PILMA) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
“Despite the United States having the most secure drug supply chain in the world, recent incidents such as the discovery of fake Avastin prove we must remain ever vigilant,” said PSM Chairman Marvin D. Shepherd, PhD. “Contrary to claims made by importation advocates, there is no regulation for products trans-shipped through ‘safe’ countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom. Americans would be put at great risk and importation would erode the FDA’s ability to regulate prescription medicines, opening the door for more criminals to operate bogus online pharmacies that prey upon our citizens.”
Read MoreTwo Israeli citizens pleaded guilty to smuggling counterfeit and misbranded drugs in the US, announced FDA-OCI. Said OCI, “Both men operated an Internet business in Israel that used multiple websites… to illegally sell large amounts of prescription drugs to U.S. purchasers…generating approximately $1,475,363 in gross proceeds.”
Read MoreAsthmatics Can Save Money Safely by Buying from VIPPS Certified Online Pharmacies
Washington, D.C. (May 2, 2012) – Asthmatics suffer from both chronic shortness of breath that if treated inconsistently can lead to serious illness and the burden of daily medication which requires conscientious treatment as well as expense.
Read MoreIn honor of World Malaria Day, we are reprinting this blog post by PSM Board member Tom Kubic, President and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Security Institute originally posted on the Sproxil blog April 3, 2012.
Read MoreThe National Association of Boards of Pharmacy has released year end data on safe online pharmacies showing the rise of the “affiliate network.”
While the number of legitimate online pharmacies safe for Americans remains at 4% of all, the growth of fake online pharmacies out of compliance with U.S. pharmacy laws and practice standards appears to be strongly linked to the spread of underlying source organizations called “affiliate networks” that proliferate the internet with copies of their websites.
The NABP has published a report, “Internet Drug Outlet Identification Program Progress Report for State and Federal Regulators: January 2012” which identifies 8,456 so-called online pharmacies that are out of compliance with U.S. pharmacy laws and practice standards. Of those, 8,265 appear to be network affiliated, 98%.
The NABP staff identified websites that use the same phone number, physical address, domain name registrant, website design or web business name as those being part of a rogue affiliate network. A rogue affiliate network is a group of internet drug outlets operated by one organization, which are frequently operated outside of the U.S.
“The common perception in America is that a discount retailer out there on the internet can, because of lower costs of business elsewhere, provide medication at below U.S. market rates. What they don’t know is that the medications are all coming from the same counterfeiters in India and China, and that a giant conglomerate of organized crime runs these hundreds of millions of websites that advertise as if they were ‘mom and pop’ small pharmacies on the internet,” said Carmen Catizone, NABP’s Executive Director.
Read MoreConsumers also need to know that only prescription medications purchased from legitimate pharmacies can treat STD, and to avoid so-called over-the-counter cures as well as prescription medications purchased from questionable sources.
Read MoreIn light of the rise in counterfeit drugs, two North Dakota State University students have chosen to take an active role in educating other health care providers, as well as the public. Third year pharmacy students Nick O’Rourke and Tegan Buckley recently presented an informational poster to illuminate this problem.
Read MoreLearn 5 Kinds of Poison Found in Counterfeit Medications – Common household items you’d never ingest
During National Poison Prevention Week, every day we’re featuring a type of poison that investigators have found in counterfeit medications.
Learn more about heavy metals, actual poisons, and toxic household items that investigators have found in fake drugs purchased online by unsuspecting consumers.
Read More