PSM's Briefing for the 118th Congress
Washington D.C.
February 28, 2023, 8:00 – 10:00am
The program will include breakfast,
a keynote by U.S. Senator Rick Scott, and
panels: Impediments to Foreign Drug Importation | Social Media & Counterfeit Pills.
This event is open to the public.
left to register
Learn how the $200 billion fake drug market affects the U.S. on our Virtual Briefing Page
Virtual briefing for the 118th congress
The U.S. has a very safe medicine supply, but that doesn't happen by itself. Regulators, law enforcement, manufacturers, distributors and pharmacists all work continuously to keep it that way. If you work in health policy, it’s critical you understand how these criminals think. In our 118th Congress policy briefing section, we’ll show you the safeguards in the system, and the ways criminals attack the closed, secure, U.S. drug supply chain.
Coming soon:
- American families and the fentanyl crisis
- The risks of medical tourism
- How online pharmacies endanger U.S. patients.
In early 2022, we got word from the Pharmaceutical Security Institute that Americans were flocking to Mexican border pharmacies and buying “too cheap to be true” blood thinners. Undercover investigators bought the same product and found packages of pills labeled in English to appeal to Americans that had no active ingredient. Why is this so dangerous? When your blood thinner doesn’t work, you get blood clots, which can lead to life-threatening heart attack or stroke. Mexican drug regulators and University of Arizona students have also warned the public about fake blood thinners in Mexico.
Border pharmacies are endangering Americans with fake blood thinners. Watch. (2 minutes)
Blood thinners are just one example of many ways that dangerous, unregulated prescription drugs get to Americans. Learn about other examples in our "9 major counterfeit drug outbreaks in the U.S." (24 minutes) and review PSM's publications about outbreaks here.
Learn about 9 major counterfeit drug outbreaks in the U.S. (24 minutes).
The Drug Supply Chain Security Act
The Drug Supply Chain Security Act of 2013 (DSCSA) mandated the creation of legal requirements and data standards so that investigator could trace packages of prescription medicine from factory floors to pharmacy shelves. The system uses barcodes and replaces easily-forged paper pedigrees that counterfeiters have used to slip fake medicines into the close U.S. drug supply.
This quick snippet to explains track-and-trace.
To learn more about the DSCSA watch Track and trace for policymakers (19 minutes)
Learn how the DSCSA makes our drug supply chain safer. (19 minutes)
Challenges with Canadian Drug Importation
PSM's May 24, 2022 online congressional briefing, Canadian & Foreign Drug Importation: Implications for the U.S. Prescription Supply, gathered law enforcement, pharmacies, and advocates to talk about the negative impact drug importation would have on medicine safety.
Watch the entire event (44 minutes), 2-minute highlights, or perspectives on prosecuting drug counterfeiters working in other countries (1.25 minutes)
Consult our factsheets about importation.
