Archive for September 2012
Master Counterfeiter: Ran Global Drug Counterfeiting Business – Sentenced to 6.5 Years
Kevin Xu a citizen of the Peoples Republic of China was sentenced to seventy-eight months imprisonment for distributing counterfeit and misbranded drugs in the United States, on January 1th, 2009.
Xu was sentenced after being found guilty in a jury trial that took place in August 2008. Xu was indicted in 2007, as the result of an undercover investigation conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the US Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigation (FDA).
Xu described to undercover agents his ability to manufacture all manner of brand name prescription drugs, and included a list of 25 different prescription drugs he could produce, including Plavix (used for treating blood clots), Casodex (for the treatment of prostate cancer), and Tamiflu (used for the treatment of influenza) along with several other life-saving drugs.
Xu had been conducting his business throughout Europe, but the investigation that resulted in his arrest only began once he attempted to break into the United States pharmaceuticals market. The US investigation into Xu’s activities uncovered the startling volume of business that he was conducting in the United Kingdom. As a result of this discovery, massive drug recalls were declared by the UK’s Medicines and Health Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and a counterfeit drug distribution ring based in the United Kingdom was apprehended.
MHRA Director of Inspection, Enforcement and Standards, Gerald Heddell, as well as FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, and OCI Director John Roth are all speaking at the 2012 Interchange on September 28, 2012.
Learn more about the world of counterfeit drug crime and the agencies that are fighting it on behalf of patients. Register today for your last chance to join in the conversation.
[...]FDA Alert: Dietary Supplements Recalled Because of Undeclared Ingredients
Dietary Supplements Mojo Nights and Mojo Nights for HerFDA Recalls via FDA Website. This is a reprint of an FDA Alert. FDA Alert: Evol Nutrition Associates, Inc./ Red Dawn Issues Voluntary Nationwide Recall of Dietary Supplements Mojo Nights and Mojo Nights for Her Because of Potential Health Risk FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – August 23,…
[...]FDA Alert: Body Basics Inc. Issues a Voluntary Nationwide Recall of ACTRA-Sx 500 Capsules, Lot 008-A, due to Potential Health Risks
This is a reprint of an FDA press release. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 12, 2012 – Body Basics Inc. announced today that it is conducting a voluntary nationwide recall of ACTRA-Sx 500 Dietary Supplement Capsules, Lot 008-A, Expiration December 2013. The Company, through independent lab analysis has confirmed the presence of Sildenafil Citrate making…
[...]FDA Alert: Intestinomicina (contains chloramphenicol) by Laboratorios Lopez: Safety Alert – Contains Drug Ingredient Withdrawn from US
FDA is warning consumers not to purchase or use Intestinomicina, a drug marketed for infectious diarrhea, due to its containing unnaproved and dangerous ingredients. A quick Google search by PSM turned up several Spanish-language websites offering the drug for sale. This is a reprint of an FDA Alert. AUDIENCE: Consumer, Health Professional ISSUE: FDA is…
[...]James R. Newcomb – Grey Marketer
Read the full comic here.
[...]PSM Executive Director Will Present at PDMA Sharing Conference
The Partnership for Safe Medicine’s Executive Director, Scott LaGanga, is presenting on Thursday September 20th, at the The PDMA Sharing Conference. The conference, held at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, is held over three days starting September 19th.
Mr. LaGanga will bring attendees up to date on the risks and dangers associated with counterfeit drugs, a real concern for American consumers.
[...]Dr. Paul Newton Talks Counterfeit Drugs & Drug Resistance in Recent Interview
In a recent interview with Pathogens & Global Health, Dr. Paul Newton, Head of the Welcome Trust-Mahosot Hospital-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Collaboration in Vientiane, Laos, offered his expertise on the growing problem of counterfeit medication in the treatment of tropical diseases.
Dr. Paul Newton works in the heart of Malaria country in Southeast Asia. As a result, he has a very clear, first-hand perspective on the role counterfeit and substandard drugs play in drug resistance and the human cost of counterfeit medication. He is also well acquainted with the drug supply chain problems that plague malarious regions.
[...]Indian Ministry of Health, WHO and Partnership for Safe Medicines India Declare Measures to Curb Spurious and Not-of-Standard Medicines
New Delhi, Monday, September 10, 2012: On September 10th, 2012, the first collaborative workshop was held organized by PSM India in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and World Health Organisation (WHO) India Country Office to demonstrate its commitment towards patient safety globally. More than 50 eminent experts participated…
[...]Liang BA,* Mackey TK. Stem Cells, Dot-Com. Sci Transl Med. 2012 Sept 12; 4;151:151-9.
Abstract. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of suspect goods and services has burgeoned because of the Internet. Despite very limited approval for use, DTC stem cell–marketed “treatments” have emerged for an array of conditions, creating global public health and safety risks. However, it remains unclear whether such use of stem cells is subject to drugs or biologics…
[...]China Cracks Down on Counterfeit Drugs With the Help of the FDA
The internet is a wild west of unregulated pharmaceutical websites, but Chinese and US cooperation are working together to make the Internet safer for consumers.
China Daily reports that US Food and Drug Administration agents working in China collaborated with the China Food and Drug Administration to shutter 18 Chinese-language websites illegally offering counterfeit drugs and health food for sale in the United States.
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