In the past few months, experts on prescription drugs warned us about heart attacks and strokes from arthritis drugs, muscle damage and kidney failure from statin drugs, and suicide and homicidal tendencies from psychotropic drugs. Catherine DeAngelis, editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, commented on the Food and Drug Administration's program to identify these serious complications. Comparing…

One of the nation's largest pharmaceutical wholesalers, Cardinal Health, is shutting a unit that trades in the secondary drug marketplace, a behind-the-scenes bazaar in which drugs are purchased and resold before finding their way to consumers. By STEPHANIE SAUL Published: May 6, 2005 Read the full story at nytimes.com.

DES MOINES – Gov. Christine Gregoire signed into law Thursday a bill allowing the importation of prescription drugs from Canada, but the move needs federal approval first, something the governor acknowledged would be a battle. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Friday, May 6, 2005 Read the full story at bellinghamherald.com.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has unveiled the first internet-based system for tracking fake drugs in Asia. At a conference in the Philippines on Friday, the WHO said that up to 10% of medicine on the global market was fake. The global health body says the illegal trade is worth $35bn a year. Friday, 6 May, 2005 Read the full…

The problem with fake medications has become very serious on the Russian pharmaceutical market. The Russian Federal Healthcare Supervisory Service has recently put forward a suggestion to introduce a new regulation, which would oblige all pharmaceutical companies to mark their products. 05/04/2005 Read the full story at english.pravda.ru.

HACKENSACK, N.J. – Thirteen New Jersey pharmacies are on a nationwide list of 80 that bought prescription drugs from several distributors now under indictment for selling the medications illegally. Associated Press Posted on Sun, May. 01, 2005 Read the full story at philly.com.

The South Dakota Board of Pharmacy voted Monday to take action against a Sioux Falls company that helps consumers buy drugs from Canada. KELLY HILDEBRANDT Published: 05/3/05 Read the full story at argusleader.com.

STANTON, Ky. — A Powell County man's arrest last year provided police with a crucial clue as to why prescription narcotic abuse in Eastern Kentucky was surging again. By Alan Maimon Monday, May 2, 2005 Read the full story at courier-journal.com.