Counterfeit Drug Aftermath Still Plagues Panama

In 2006, 116 people were confirmed dead in Panama after the government distributed cough syrup, antihistamine tablets, calamine lotion and rash ointment that was unknowingly made with counterfeit glycerin, a sweetener and thickening agent commonly used in medication. The Panamanian government believed they were receiving 99.5 percent pure glycerin from a Spanish distribution company. In reality, what they bought was diethylene glycol, the poisonous chemical commonly found in antifreeze and brake fluid, which the original Chinese manufacturer passed off as glycerin.

[...]

Hargreaves MD, Macleod NA, Smith MR, Andrews D, Hammond SV, Matousek P. Characterisation of transmission Raman spectroscopy for rapid quantitative analysis of intact multi -component pharmceuticals capsules. J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2011;54(3):463-8.

A detailed characterisation of the performance of transmission Raman spectroscopy was performed from the standpoint of rapid quantitative analysis of pharmaceutical capsules using production relevant formulations comprising of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and 3 common pharmaceutical excipients. This research builds on our earlier studies that identified the unique benefits of transmission Raman spectroscopy compared to…

[...]

Internet Search Engines Promote Illegal Online Pharmacies

The Partnership for Safe Medicines, a group of organizations and individuals dedicated to protecting consumers from counterfeit medicines, issued the following statement regarding recent reports released by LegitScript, an online pharmacy verification service, and KnujOn,an Internet compliance company, which found that 80 to 90 percent of search engine-sponsored advertisements of online drug pharmacies violate federal and state laws, including selling substandard or counterfeit drugs to unsuspecting consumers.

[...]

India Takes First Steps to Address Counterfeit Drug Makers

The Indian government has finally improved their laws to address this important public health issue. While these new laws took five years before enactment, on August 10, India’s Ministry for Health & Family Welfare began enforcing the Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Act of 2008.

[...]

Did You Ever Wonder Why People Buy Counterfeit Drugs?

Last month, the Wall Street Journal featured an article that discussed the efforts currently underway to deter people from buying counterfeit products. It pointed out that many anti-counterfeiting messages fail to address the underlying motivation which leads people to buy counterfeit products.

[...]

No Such Thing as a “Safe Country” for Drug Importation

With talks about drug importation continuing in Congress, drug importation supporters argue that if the United States allows importation only from “safe countries,” such as Canada and the United Kingdom, than most of drug safety concerns would be eliminated. However, when it comes to drug importation, there is no such thing as a “safe” country.

[...]

Thoughts and responses on “Why Steal A Truck Full Of Drugs”

Our recent roundtable discussion post, “Why Steal A Truck Full Of Drugs” generated a lot of attention for this usually obscure policy issue.  One reader who is a veteran colleague of drug diversion enforcement, Carlos M. Aquino at PharmaDiversion, LLC, wrote: I just read, “Why Steal a Truck Full of Drugs?” and I have to…

[...]

Mainous AG, Everett CJ, Post RE, Diaz VA, Hueston, WJ. Availability of Antibiotics for Purchase Without a Prescription on the Internet. Ann Fam Med. 2009;7(5):431-435

Abstract. PURPOSE Reducing inappropriate use of antibiotics is key to many antibiotic resistance initiatives. Most initiatives, however, focus almost exclusively on controlling prescribing by health care clinicians and do not focus on patient self-medication. The purpose of this study was to examine antibiotics available to patients without a prescription, a phenomenon on the Internet. METHODS…

[...]