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Products stolen: Advair Diskus 250/50, 60 Dose, Advair Diskus 500/50, 60 Dose Lot numbers: 9ZP2255, 9ZP3325 Countries known affected: United States Investigating agency contact: FDA Office of Criminal Investigations at 1-800-551-3989 or GSK’s Customer Response Center at 1-888-825-5249 Manufacturers information: GSK PR/Newswire Posted on/updated: August 24 2009 View Larger Map On August 24, GlaxoSmithKline announced that two lots of Advair…
Read MoreOn July 15, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released a report detailing how West Africa has become an increasing target for counterfeit drugs. According to the report, as much as 50 to 60 percent of the medicines in this region of the world were found to contain “little or no active ingredients.” The report goes on to explain why these counterfeit drugs are a major public health threat in Africa.
Read MoreCounterfeit Drugs Seized in Kenya Products counterfeited: Hypertension and diabetes medicines Lot numbers: N/A Countries known affected: Kenya Investigating agency contact: The Nation Manufacturers information: The Economic Times Posted on/updated: August 2009 View Larger Map What: Counterfeit and expired drugs were seized in the Kenyan town of Eldoret on July 30, 2009. Kenyan officials noted that some of the seized…
Read MoreThe Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) strongly believes that that no one should be able to purchase prescription drugs, including controlled substances, over the Internet without a valid prescription and physician oversight. Last year we sent every member of Congress a postcard that illustrated this face and earlier this year, my colleague Dr. Bryan Liang published a paper in the American Journal of Law & Medicine that highlights how Internet search engines support illegal online drug sales and identified three key ways we can stop “online pharmacies” from peddling their dangerous wares in cyberspace.
Read MoreThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the McKinney, Texas, Police Department have reported that on August 7 a tractor-trailer truck containing a 35,760-carton shipment Dey brand generic Albuterol Sulfate Inhalation Solution was stolen in McKinney, Texas. We are concerned that they could make their way to consumers via online pharmacies.
Read MoreFive Capital Region doctors were convicted in federal court today on charges of misbranding drugs after they admitted to using a cheaper Botox substitue on unsuspecting patients, reports CBS News. The Plastic Surgery Group, LLP, of Albany(TPSG), pleaded guilty to the charge after an investigation found the doctors in the practice had been injecting patients with TriToxin, a Botulinum toxin…
Read MoreAfter nearly two years under investigation, the final sentence for running an international multi-million pound counterfeit drug operation was issued in the United Kingdom. The first four convictions were made in September 2007 and on July 6, the final member of the operation received a 12 month sentence, suspended for two years, for masterminding an industrial scale conspiracy of supplying counterfeit drugs between 2002 and 2005. In total, the seven convicted members of this international counterfeit drug ring received a combined 17.5 years imprisonment—an average of 2.5 years for each participant—for their part in the U.K. distribution arm of a global ring operating from China, India and Pakistan, extending to the Caribbean and the United States.
Read MorePart 3: Implications for the U.S. and the Drug Importation Debate – As the debate surrounding the possible ban on the repackaging of medicines in Europe simmers to a boil, here in the United States the potentially dangerous practice of ordering prescription medicines via the Internet is mushrooming. Enticed by the promise of cheaper drugs and convenience by buying online, patients are largely unaware of the risks that come with online pharmacies. These risks can range from receiving products with too much, too little or no active ingredients, to being exposed to counterfeit products, which in some rare cases have been found to contain rat poison, boric acid and even inkjet cartridges!
Read MoreFERNLEY–What You Should Know About Counterfeit Drugs: What is the definition of a counterfeit medication? U.S. law defines counterfeit drugs as those sold under a product name without proper authorization. Counterfeiting can apply to both brand name and generic products, where the identity of the source is deliberately and fraudulently mislabeled in a way that suggests that it is the…
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