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A Georgia man was recently sentenced to more than five years in prison for running an illegal online pharmacy. Christopher Stoufflet helped start a business called eScriptsmd.com in 2001 that sold prescription medications over the internet, according to the AtlantaJournal-Constitution. Two years ago, Stoufflet pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and to commit money laundering in connection with…
Read MoreFollowing our update on the announcement of Google’s elimination of PharmacyChecker.com as a certifying authority for U.S. and Canadian pharmacies, we were contacted by Norbert C. Bernardina, from the Inspectorate of Public Health in Netherlands Antilles. “Every year Pharmacy Checker asks the Inspectorate of Pharmaceutical Affairs for a declaration that Pharmaceutical Services International functions according to the laws and regulations…
Read MoreOBJECTIVES: The size of the market for counterfeit drugs throughout the world is considerable. Many cases of health impairment due to counterfeits have been reported. The market share of counterfeits in drug markets in developed countries is smaller than that in developing countries. However, the size of the market for counterfeits of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5Is) used as anti-erectile-dysfunction…
Read MoreThe Rhode Island Department of Health announced an investigation of 28 providers in 10 Rhode Island OB-GYN medical offices who had illegally imported non-FDA approved IUDs and inserted them into patients. Among the practices named were OB-GYN Associates, Inc, Bayside OB-GYN, Inc., and Center for Obstetrics & Gynecology, Inc. The Rhode Island Department of Health required the practices to surrender…
Read MoreWhile there is no silver bullet to solving the counterfeit drug problem, anti-counterfeiting technologies are showing promise. Earlier this spring, SecuringPharma reported that Thermo Fisher Scientific’s handheld TruScan spectrometers have been used in operations that have led to the seizure of more than 60,000 counterfeit medicines since being their deployment in Nigeria. Weighing less than four pounds, the point-and-shoot spectrometer…
Read MoreREMARKS BY THE VICE PRESIDENT AND VICTORIA ESPINEL, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ENFORCEMENT COORDINATOR, ON THE U.S. GOVERNMENT’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ENFORCEMENT STRATEGY Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C. 11:17 A.M. EDT THE VICE PRESIDENT: Welcome, everybody. We’re going to be relatively brief here. Thank you for being here. I’m going to ask Victoria, who was responsible for drafting this significant report here,…
Read MoreWashington, D.C. (June 22, 2010) – Scott LaGanga, executive director of the Partnership for Safe Medicines, released the following statement regarding today's rollout of a joint strategic plan by the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) that includes provisions to address counterfeit prescription drugs: "The report released today is both a step forward and a reminder of the need for…
Read MoreThe following excerpts of today’s White House briefing on the Joint Strategic Plan for Intellectual Property Enforcement are relevant to the problem of counterfeit drugs. Vice President Biden clearly identifies the problem facing consumers and patients today. To learn more about our take on this announcement, see our press release. Vice President: “We need to protect our citizens from…
Read MoreIn mid-May 2010, a collection of leaders in the pharmaceutical space joined to launch the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP), of which the Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) is an educating party. We caught up with Libby Baney, an advisor at B&D Consulting who counsels the Alliance, to learn more about its mission. PSM: Tell us how the Alliance…
Read MoreCross-border importation of traditional and prescription medications is common, and many of these drugs are not approved by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration. Furthermore, counterfeit versions of prescription medications are also available (eg, weight-loss medications, anabolic steroids, and medications to enhance sexual performance). We describe a 54-year-old man with the first Australian case of severe hypoglycaemia induced by imported, laboratory-confirmed…
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