Shepherd, M.* Impact of drug importation on community pharmacy and patient care. J Am Pharm Assn. 2007; 47(3):319-327

With the politcal powers shifting in both congressional houses, many pharmaceutical issues have resurfaced in the 110th Congress.  One of these is legalization of drug importation.  Many Democrats and Republicans have already stated that this is a high-priority item.  In the first 60 days of the First Session, two bills were introduced that would legalize…

[...]

NBI raids yield P100,000 in fake hypertension drugs

The National Bureau of Investigation recently confiscated alleged imitations of hypertension drugs worth over P100,000 from four different pharmacies in Laguna province. NBI Chief of Intellectual Property Rights Division (IPRD) head agent Jose Justo Yap said the NBI team found some 2,323 pieces of fake hypertension and vasodilator drugs in pharmacies in San Pablo City,…

[...]

Importers of fake Viagra sent to jail

Two importers of fake Viagra pills recently received prison sentences, in two separate cases. This marks the first time jail time has been handed down for importing imitation Viagra. The first defendant, textile trader Moshe Perach, received 15 months after a container of clothing he was importing was found to contain 160,000 of the blue…

[...]

Illicit online drug sales rampant

Buying prescription drugs illegally over the Internet is on the rise in the United States, according to witnesses testifying before a Senate panel yesterday. The number of rogue Web sites selling prescription drugs such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Ritalin has increased for three straight years, according to a new report released yesterday by the National…

[...]

Counterfeit medical supplies cause ethical dilemma

As I read about the melamine-tainted pet food, and about the hundreds in Panama killed by phony glycerin from China, I remembered a patient I once saw. She was a dancer in her 40s who had hobbled into the emergency room one October night with a painful, bulging mass in her groin. I gently put…

[...]

NAFDAC raids supermarkets, seizes N2m goods

THE National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) yesterday raided supermarkets and food joints in Kogi State, seizing goods worth N2 million. The head of the agency in the state, Mr. John Okori, said that the agency had been innundated with reports of fake and banned products in the state capital and…

[...]

Fake cough syrup possibly a backyard product

The fake cough syrup known as Mist Expectorant Sedative (MES) now in circulation in the local market might have been manufactured by unlicensed backyard factories, the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority has said. TFDA public relations officer Gaudensia Simwanza said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that Afya Laboratories Limited, the company whose batch number appears…

[...]

Counterfeit Medicines on the Rise in India

Adequate health care remains unavailable to most of India's citizens, especially in rural areas. Even those fortunate enough to have access to good care, however, cannot be certain that a prescription from a reliable doctor will ensure their recovery. VOA's Steve Herman in New Delhi explains why. A customer – in this case, someone sent…

[...]