January 26, 2025: Health Canada warns Canadians about the dangers of unapproved GLP-1s
Major Stories
In a January 21 alert, Health Canada warned that people taking unauthorized GLP-1 products risked receiving the wrong dose of medicine or no medicine at all; exposure to dangerous ingredients, contaminants, and fungi or bacteria; and harm because of a lack of medical oversight. The agency has found websites and social media advertisements displaying official Health Canada logos with fake endorsements to mislead consumers, and said that it doesn’t endorse health products or permit its logo to be used in ads that promote them.
Americans turning to unauthorized sources, including buying GLP-1s from web storefronts claiming to sell Canadian medicines, should also take note.
Domestic
A Mississippi man was sentenced to 25 years for his pill press operation. Legislators introduced another pill press regulation bill in Congress. Hawaii is considering a PDAB bill; compounding and med spa reform bills are proposed in Washington, Florida, and Iowa.
Jabreon Deshon Mosley, of Meridian, Mississippi, received a 25-year prison sentence for drug manufacturing and trafficking. Between October 2023 and January 2024, he used pill presses to make counterfeit pharmaceutical pills containing methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine and distributed them in Meridian and parts of Alabama.
Thao Duong and Lam Mai, of Garland, Texas, pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle $2.4 million worth of unregistered pesticides and misbranded veterinary drugs from Mexico into the United States. The couple sold the drugs and pesticides via a website that supplied cockfighting ventures.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned a Virginia company that its St. Louis, Missouri, drug manufacturing facility had violated Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations by failing to adequately test over-the-counter drug products for identity, strength, quality, and purity.
Pill presses are a significant tool in the counterfeit pill crisis. Learn more here.
Legislation
Congressman Addison McDowell introduced the Preventing Rogue Equipment for Synthetic Substances (PRESS) Act, which would amend the Controlled Substances Act to prevent the importation of illicit pill press machines for counterfeiting substances.
In the states:
Hawaii SB2933 would establish a prescription drug affordability board to identify and evaluate high-cost prescription drugs and, when appropriate, set upper payment limits tied to medicare price benchmarks
Washington HB2613 would establish safety and regulatory requirements for compounded medications.
Iowa HSB591 and Florida S1728 would strengthen oversight of medical spas by classifying them as dispensers licensed under the boards of medicine or pharmacy, respectively
International
Police in Uttar Pradesh, India, shut down an illegal cough syrup manufacturing unit and seized manufacturing equipment and 375 bottles of counterfeit syrup.