Leading Patient Advocate Applauds Extradition Request in Fake Drug Case

“Canadadrugs.com and their co-conspirators are charged with shipping $78 million of counterfeit and unapproved medicines to unsuspecting patients across the United States,” said Thomas Kubic, PSM board member and former FBI Deputy Assistant Director who spent 30 years at our nation’s top law enforcement agency. “Yet to this day and since 2002, Canadadrugs.com has been listed as an “approved” and “safe” online pharmacy by a leading U.S. firm whose business model involves helping Americans unknowingly break the law and put their welfare at risk.

The Partnership for Safe Medicines, the leading advocate in the fight against counterfeit drugs, released the below statement following an extradition request by U.S. authorities to bring the leaders of a massive counterfeit importation scheme to justice:

“Canadadrugs.com and their co-conspirators are charged with shipping $78 million of counterfeit and unapproved medicines to unsuspecting patients across the United States,” said Thomas Kubic, PSM board member and former FBI Deputy Assistant Director who spent 30 years at our nation’s top law enforcement agency. “Yet to this day and since 2002, Canadadrugs.com has been listed as an “approved” and “safe” online pharmacy by a leading U.S. firm whose business model involves helping Americans unknowingly break the law and put their welfare at risk.

“PSM applauds the prosecutors who brought this case to light, and fully supports the extraditions to ensure those responsible for preying on our patients are brought to justice. However, this case has exposed broader issues that must be addressed by national policymakers. For example, why do some candidates for federal office, including the presidency, and others continue to advocate for prescription drug importation, when it is a recipe for disaster that effectively outsources patient safety to foreign governments? And why isn’t Canada doing anything to stop these operations before their tainted products infiltrate our borders?

“After all the damning revelations of the CanadaDrugs.com indictment and the fact that one of the defendants in the case worked for the leading illegal online pharmacy “verification” company, it’s time for our elected representatives and policymakers to take this issue seriously, and stop playing politics with patient health. Neither HHS nor FDA have ever approved importation because they know the severe threat it poses to our secure drug supply chain. This case is the best example yet why importation is both bad policy and bad politics, and should be permanently rejected. The Partnership has an abundance of resources to explain how Americans who need medicines can get help.”

For further comment or to arrange an interview with Mr. Kubic or another PSM Board member, contact media@safemedicines.org

About the Partnership for Safe Medicines: Comprised of more than 70 non-profit organizations, the Partnership for Safe Medicines is a public health group committed to the safety of prescription medicines and protecting consumers against counterfeit, substandard or otherwise unsafe medicines. PSM can be found on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SafeMedicines), Twitter (@safemedicines), and the web at www.safemedicines.org