Rodomonte AL, Gaudiano MC, Antoniella E, Lucente D, Crusco V, Bartolomei M, Bertocchi P, Manna L, Valvo L, Alhaique F, Muleri N. Counterfeit drugs detection by measurement of tablets and secondary packaging colour. J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2010;53(2):215-20.

The growth of pharmaceutical counterfeiting is a major public health problem. This growth is resulting in a proportional increase in the number of samples that medicines control laboratories have to test. Thus the need for simple and affordable preliminary screening methods to be used by inspectors to decide in the field whether to collect a…

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Arrests Made in Counterfeit Alli Case

Back in January, we told you about an FDA alert regarding counterfeit Alli—an FDA-approved, over-the-counter weight loss drug—which was being sold over the Internet. The FDA found that the counterfeit pills were made with varying amounts of the stimulant sibutramine, which can be particularly harmful to those with a history of cardiovascular disease and can…

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Europe Announces Treaty to Combat Counterfeit Drugs

Moving in line with the globally recognized need for strong protections against counterfeit drugs, the Council of Europe recently announced a treaty that intends to halt the trade of fake medications. At its Medicrime Convention, the Council of Europe created a binding international instrument to combat the sale of counterfeit drugs and other impediments to…

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Across the Pond: Counterfeit Medicines in the UK

Lately, we’ve posted a lot about counterfeit drug issues in the U.S., as well as our recommendations to government agencies on how to better protect Americans from this growing threat to public health. Other developed nations are addressing the same problems. In January, the United Kingdom’s (UK) Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) published…

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Shepherd M.* Beef up international cooperation on counterfeits. Nat Med. 2010;16(4):366.

Counterfeit drugs are a menacing and deadly problem worldwide. The proliferation of fake drugs is astounding, with over 100 countries reporting incidents of fake drugs, according to a 2008 report from the Pharmaceutical Security Institute. And incidents of drug counterfeiting show no evidence of declining: some industry insiders suggest that the number of counterfeit medicines…

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PSM Delivers Recommendations to IPEC Regarding the Joint Strategic Plan

Given the growing threat of counterfeit drugs around the world, the Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) goes to great lengths to inform and educate consumers, health care professionals and policymakers about this multifaceted issue. Most recently, we submitted recommendations to the office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) following its request for comments regarding…

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