Fake Drugs Have Real Consequences for Patients

Black market medicine is terrible for patients all over the world, including Americans. At best, counterfeit and substandard medicine may not adequately treat a patient's illness. At worst, counterfeit medicines may cause poisoning or death.

Each of the following stories mentions people who have been sickened or died after being treated with fake medicine. Every day, American patients are harmed when they break the closed U.S. drug supply.

Robbie Took Just One Counterfeit Xanax With Tragic Consequences

July 2, 2018

The evening of November 29, 2016, Atlanta-area realtor Jennifer Bryant Hodge came home to find her 23-year-old son Robbie collapsed in the bathroom. EMTs rushed Robbie to the hospital, where he was declared brain dead. Hodge would learn that her son had taken a counterfeit Xanax that contained a fatal dose of benzodiazepines.

Mothers of Counterfeit Drug Victims Join Law Enforcement, Pharmacy Experts to Raise Alarm Over Lethal Fentanyl Imports

June 7, 2018

Partnership for Safe Medicines Announces Creation of Fentanyl Council to Spotlight Impact on U.S. Law Enforcement, Explore Proliferation of Pill Presses

In Florida, a beloved wife, sister, daughter, aunt was felled by fake oxycodone

May 31, 2018

Maggie Crowley managed an Outback in Royal Palm Beach, Florida until September 1, 2016, when she was killed by a counterfeit painkiller she got from a coworker. Almost two years later, her close-knit family is still reeling from the loss.

Georgian Mother Warns About The Threat Of Counterfeit PIlls Made with Fentanyl

April 27, 2018

In this editorial, which appeared in the Austin American-Statesman on April 27, 2018, Georgia resident Lisa Hicks warns readers about the counterfeit prescription pills that killed her son in 2015:

“One needn’t be an addict to die from an overdose..Joe had a solid job and was studying for a degree in exercise science…One day, he pulled a muscle at the gym. He was in serious pain, so he bought what he thought were prescription painkillers from a friend. Those pills turned out to be counterfeit. And they contained a deadly amount of fentanyl. The next day, my son was gone.”

New Report Shows Widespread and Deadly Impact of Illegally-Imported Fentanyl

April 10, 2018

A new report released April 10, 2018 by The Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) illustrates the growing deadly toll that illegally-imported fentanyl is having on communities throughout the U.S. PSM’s analysis confirms reports of counterfeit medicines made with fentanyl in 43 states, with fentanyl-related deaths confirmed in 22 states. The updated findings follow a report released by PSM last September that found a presence of counterfeit fentanyl in 40 states and related deaths in 16 states.

Man Charged After Marine Found Dead In Barracks From Counterfeit Fentanyl Pill

March 21, 2018

A man in California sold counterfeit pills containing fentanyl to the Marine corporal who died after taking them. Kyle Shephard has been charged with murder. A complaint filed in the court says he sold approximately 2,000 of the counterfeit pills…

Yvonne Clark of Calgary, Canada Does not Want You to Lose Your Child to Fentanyl as She Did

February 21, 2018

Yvonne Clark lost her 21-year-old son to fentanyl poisoning, and now she is trying to help other parents by educating about what an incredible danger fentanyl can be to their children.

Mother Warns Others After Loss Of Son Because Of A Counterfeit Xanax

February 6, 2018

Rachel Blado of TN tragically lost her son Josh after he purchased what he thought was Xanax online. It turned out to be counterfeit and contained fentanyl. One pill took him from her forever and now she wants to warn everyone of the dangers of counterfeit medicines…

Counterfeit Pill Made With Fentanyl Killed Young Father-To-Be

December 4, 2017

23-year-old Joe Patterson was a hard worker and a student, an expectant father and a beloved son. On February 15, 2015, he died after taking a painkiller he didn’t know was a counterfeit made with fentanyl.

Young Californian Dies After Accidentally Taking Counterfeit Xanax Made with Fentanyl

September 27, 2017

The evening of October 26, 2015, twenty-nine-year-old Aptos, California resident Tosh Ackerman took a benedryl and part of a Xanax pill to help him sleep. He never woke up, and his girlfriend found him dead the next day. Ackerman died because the Xanax he took was counterfeit. It contained a fatal dose of a powerful synthetic opioid called fentanyl.