Partnership For Safe Medicines World News About Counterfeit Drugs

Dr. Marv Shepherd: The Trouble With Online Pharmacies

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:29:55 +0000

Parenthood.Com features PSM's Dr. Marv Shepherd: The Trouble With Online Pharmacies

Maine Doctors say Critically-Needed Drugs in Short Supply

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:28:59 +0000

"You have these gray-market suppliers that approach organizations and say, 'I have drug x,y, but it will cost you 450 percent more than what you used to pay,'" D'Amato says. "And the problem with that is those drugs don't have any integrity chain behind them so very oftentimes counterfeit drugs can get into the drug supply."

SecuringPharma - Counterfeit clippings: global news round-up

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:28:36 +0000

Cancer, HIV and hemophilia medicines are among the most counterfeited medical products in Argentina. Counterfeiters have moved from lifestyle drugs to counterfeiting life-saving medicines, putting the health and safety of unsuspecting consumers at risk. Reports like these highlight the need to keep the U.S. medicine supply chain closed and protected. Vigilance keeps the global counterfeit medicine problem largely outside our borders. However, proposed drug importation legislation could inadvertently open our borders to counterfeit imported medicine, potentially threatening the safety of our drug supply.

SecuringPharma - Facebook next battlefield in fight against ...

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 08:41:41 +0000

We’re all used to ignoring spam for online pharmacies that we receive in our email inboxes. But did you know that medicine counterfeiters are now on Facebook? Researchers from the California Western School of Law have found that illicit online drug sellers are now using the direct-to-consumer advertising on social media platforms like Facebook to reach unsuspecting customers. Luckily, the prevalence of counterfeit medicine in the U.S. is low, but talk in Congress over drug importation could inadvertently make out closed, protected medicine supply chain vulnerable

Nashville Man Charged with Buying Counterfeit Drugs ...

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 08:41:03 +0000

U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin. : “Counterfeit prescription drugs pose a significant risk to the public since these drugs are not tested for safety, content, or purity by the Food and Drug Administration. Although the internet makes it easy to order fake drugs from foreign countries, persons who sell these counterfeit drugs make illegal profits at the expense of the public’s health.”

Online sales of fake drugs targeted

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 02:04:57 +0000

Beijing Drug Administration spokesman Yuan Lin said that online channels pose new challenges to anti-counterfeiting efforts. Dubious website advertisements deceivethe unsuspecting public with false information about drugs and medical equipment said to be able to cure chronic or untreatable diseases, such as kidney problems, cardiovascular diseases or cancer. Today, Americans can largely protect themselves from counterfeit medicines by avoiding fake online pharmacies. But there’s talk in Congress of drug importation legislation that could inadvertently threaten the safety of our medicine supply chain.

Canadian Doctor Convicted of Bringing Unapproved Medicine ...

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 02:04:51 +0000

Immigration and Customs Enforcement: “A key component of ICE’s border security mission is to stop the flow of illegal, misbranded, and unapproved drugs into the United States.” Foreign drug importation, proposed in Congress, could inadvertently impair the work of federal officials to prevent potentially dangerous drugs from entering the U.S.

Dubai Rx : Conduit for Fake Drugs - Video Library - The New ...

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:19:19 +0000

The New York Times reports that massive free trade zones like those in Dubai are being used by counterfeiters to smuggle fake and potentially dangerous drugs from China to Europe and the United States. Investigators believe these drugs may be intended for American consumers through fake online pharmacies.

POE: Time to deal with China’s high-tech mafia

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:19:12 +0000

“… the Chinese criminal networks also exploit our financially weak position by placing harmful pharmaceuticals on the market, making defective products and ripping off consumers left and right. Since I joined the House Judiciary Committee’s intellectual property subcommittee in January, I’ve heard from dozens of American businesses that have experienced significant economic harm from Chinese counterfeits.” – Congressman Ted Poe on how fake products produced in China – including counterfeit medicines – hurt American businesses.

How Counterfeit Drugs Are A Threat To American Children

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 20:03:30 +0000

Check out this new blog post from Parenthood.com, which takes a look at PSM’s recent report “A Risky Proposition,” and infographic on the dangers of fake online pharmacies. The blog notes how opening U.S. markets to foreign drug importation could exacerbate the problem of fake online pharmacies selling counterfeit medication, and the risks specific to children.

Equal Crimes, Unequal Times

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 20:01:12 +0000

Did you know? Criminals convicted of distributing counterfeit medicine to unsuspecting patients in need are often sentenced to only a fraction of the time traditional drug dealers serve (Counterfeit medicines can be extremely dangerous, even fatal, to unsuspecting patients. Authorities have seized counterfeit pills containing floor wax, brick dust and lead-based paint.

8,000 Fake Pills Seized In Cincinnati

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:44:10 +0000

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents seized a package containing more than 8,000 fake pills at the Cincinnati airport. The package claimed to be harmless generic medicine, but actually turned out to be counterfeit tablets from India. So far, Customs and Border Protection agents in Cincinnati have seen a 43% increase in seizures this year, intercepting 300 shipments and over 1,000 pounds of counterfeit medicine.

Vatican Denounces Drug Counterfeiters

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 21:09:00 +0000

Agenzia Fides, the missionary press agency of the Vatican, has spoken out against counterfeit drugs and the approximated 700,000 people expected to die annually due to their pervasiveness.

Fake tuberculosis and malaria drugs alone are estimated to kill 700,000 people a year. A large part of these victims are African. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that up to 30 percent of the medicines on sale in many African countries are counterfeit and have found that nearly half of the drugs sold in Angola, Burundi, and the Congo are substandard.

In 2003, Interpol, an international police organization, conducted a survey on the quality of drugs available in Lagos, sub-Saharan Africa's most populous city and found that 80 percent of the drugs available were fakes. In 2008, more than 80 children in Nigeria died after being given medicine for teething pain that was laced with antifreeze.

Fake medicines can be missing key ingredients, use the wrong ingredient, or have insufficient or too much of the active ingredient. In some cases, use of these medicines can increase drug resistance. When there is not enough of the active ingredient, the drug kills some of the parasites or viruses, but the pathogens that are not killed adapt. As time goes on, even if a patent was to be treated with the correct medication, he or she would not be cured.

Agenzia Fides states, “The development of germs resistant to antibiotics and other treatments is a problem that affects all humanity, not just Africans. It is therefore in the best interest of all concerned that smuggling of counterfeit drugs be fought against.”

Advocacy Group Criticizes the Philippines’ Regarding Counterfeit Drugs

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:03:47 +0000

An advocacy group in the Philippines recently criticized the government’s handling of counterfeit drugs.

The Samahan Laban sa Pekeng Gamot ("Samahan"), a group comprised of pharmaceutical companies, drug stores and health professionals, counters the Philippines’ Department of Health’s claim that counterfeit drugs account for only 10 percent of the market, saying that the actual figure is closer to 30 percent, according to Malaya Business Insight.

Samahan also urged consumers to buy prescription medications from only legitimate sources, like pharmacies, hospitals, doctors and approved websites.

The advocacy group also criticized the government’s handling of the 16,300 Botika ng Barangay (village drugstores) outlets it helped establish.

Samahan said that these shops were initially stocked with drugs by the Department of Health and were supposed to replenish their supplies through a monitored procurement process. However, some of the stories have turned to the cheapest suppliers, and sometimes, as a consequence, are buying and reselling counterfeit drugs.

Samahan isn’t the only entity that recognizes that the country must do a better job of handling counterfeit drugs.

"There’s a tremendous room for improvement," Scott A. Davis, regional senior director for global security for Asia-Pacific of Pfizer, told the news source.

Online pharmacist eludes ban

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 05:24:00 +0000

An Internet pharmacist who recently lost his credentials to practise in Manitoba is distributing generic drugs from an online pharmaceutical business based on an island off the coast of Venezuela.

The Free Press confirmed online pharmacy pioneer Andrew Strempler's business, PharmaCheck, started operating in a free-trade zone in Curacao in August 2006 -- the same month the U.S. Food and Drug Administration first warned consumers prescription drugs from Strempler's Manitoba-based online pharmacy, RxNorth, were unsafe.

26 February 2010

Partnership For Safe Medicines World News About Counterfeit Drugs

Dr. Marv Shepherd: The Trouble With Online Pharmacies

Maine Doctors say Critically-Needed Drugs in Short Supply

SecuringPharma - Counterfeit clippings: global news round-up

SecuringPharma - Facebook next battlefield in fight against ...

Nashville Man Charged with Buying Counterfeit Drugs ...

Online sales of fake drugs targeted

Canadian Doctor Convicted of Bringing Unapproved Medicine ...

Dubai Rx : Conduit for Fake Drugs - Video Library - The New ...

POE: Time to deal with China’s high-tech mafia

How Counterfeit Drugs Are A Threat To American Children

Equal Crimes, Unequal Times

8,000 Fake Pills Seized In Cincinnati

Vatican Denounces Drug Counterfeiters

Advocacy Group Criticizes the Philippines’ Regarding Counterfeit Drugs

Online pharmacist eludes ban

Customs Authority body-builder helped bust fake drugs factory

Lebanese authorities seize counterfeit-drugs factory [[Beirut, Lebanon]]

12 suspected of distributing fake Viagra

Internet pharmacist accused of selling phoney drugs loses credentials [[Montreal, Canada]]

Internet pharmacist accused of selling phoney drugs loses credentials [[Montreal, Canada]]

MSU targets the seamy world of counterfeits

HC raps Uttar Pradesh on fake drugs

Pfizer’s European study reveals disturbing counterfeit news

NBC VP: US Needs Intellectual-Property Rights Protection Plan

Spurious drug of multinational brands seized near Maharashtra

NAFDAC unveils new technology to tackle counterfeit drugs

Address counterfeit and sub-standard drugs influx

High proportions of malaria drugs are found to be substandard

Kenyans yet to know if malaria drugs are safe

Fake drugs flood Poland

Fourteen accused of selling fake drugs in HCM City

Khalifeh: investigation into counterfeit drugs widened

Fake Drugs Bought on the Web Pose Big Health Risks

Nigeria seizes fake drugs

Fake medicines seized in Asia, 30 arrested: Interpol

Fake medicines seized in Asia, 30 arrested: Interpol

NAFDAC seizes fake anti-malaria drugs in Kaduna markets

Officials fear toxic ingredient in Botox could become terrorist tool

FDA: Fake Versions Of Drug Alli Dangerous For Some Consumers

Men who buy fake internet drugs for ED problems face significant health risks

50% medicines in country substandard, spurious: Malik

Warning on Fake Alli

Fake drugs worth millions recovered

Online database to check fake drug use

Mexico’s Shadow Pharma Market

MHRA seeks prison for fake drug pedlars [[London, England]]

Fake drugs getting more sophisticated [[Atlanta, Georgia]]

Why Drug 'Reimportation' Won't Die [[Washington, D.C.]]

FDA issues warning over online pharmacy extortion scam [[Washington, D.C.]]

KENYA: Anti-Counterfeit Law "Violates Right to Life and Health" [[Nairobi, Kenya]]

Say No To Counterfeit Drugs

U.S. Senate action on health bill amendments [[Washington, D.C.]]

Democrats Feud Over Drug Imports Amendment in Health Care Bill [[Washington, D.C.]]

Death for 6 Chinese traders faking 'Made in India' tags [[Bejing, China]]

White House appears to be shutting door on prescription drugs from Canada [[Ottawa, Canada]]

FDA Questions Reimportation of Drugs [[Washington, D.C.]]

HDMA criticizes personal drug importation amendment in healthcare-reform bill [[Washington, D.C.]]

Consumer Protection Group Applauds International Efforts to Combat Illegal Online Pharmacies [[Washington, D.C.]]

Kenya's Anti Counterfeit Agency starts operations [[Nairobi, Kenya]]

Uganda asks for more money to fight drug fakers [[Kampala, Uganda]]

China in the Anti-Fake Drug Battle [[Lagos, Nigeria]]

Counterfeit drug sale rampant, cops helpless [[Mumbai, India]]

Sproxil expands into India « Acumen Fund Blog

Money Matters - 07th September 2011

Fake Pharmacies Using Facebook as New Source ...