Posts by PSM Author
CDC Paints a Grim Picture of the U.S. Fentanyl Crisis in Ohio
According to the CDC, “Approximately 90% of unintentional overdose deaths in 24 Ohio counties that occurred during January and February 2017 involved fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, or both.”
[...]Georgia Bureau of Investigation Identifies Counterfeit Pain Pills Made With Fentanyl
Georgia authorities have discovered counterfeit pain pills made with fentanyl analogues for a second time this summer.
[...]Betty Jean Collins: An Unwitting Victim of Fentanyl-Laced Counterfeit Pain Pills
Georgia resident Betty Jean Collins became an unwitting victim of the state’s June counterfeit Percocet incident when she borrowed one of her husband’s pain pills and ended up in the hospital with a fentanyl overdose.
[...]Costa Rican Man Stands Accused of Running Fake Online Pharmacy
Quesada was originally indicted in October 2015. He allegedly used his websites to sell medication to unsuspecting U.S. patients that were unaware they were buying misbranded and counterfeit prescription drugs manufactured in India.
[...]Fake Online Pharmacy Operators Arrested After Man Dies From Taking Drugs They Sold
On May 22, 2016, law enforcement officers were dispatched to a residence in Madison, Wisconsin, in response to a report of a 37-year-old man who had stopped breathing. The victim was dead by the time officers arrived at his residence. An autopsy later confirmed that the victim’s death was caused by acute intoxication due to the combined effects of a substance called U-47700 and Benzodiazepine Analogue (Etizolam).
[...]Parents of Woman Who Died After Cosmetic Enhancement Want Murder Charges
A young New York mother is dead and her family is demanding answers after she received injections to enhance her buttocks, CBS News reports. Latesha Bynum, 32, went to a “doctor” practicing out of an apartment in the Gramercy Park neighborhood in New York. Within hours of having the procedure, Ms. Bynum had to be…
[...]Lester Holt of NBC News Finds Fentanyl for Sale Online After 5-Minute Search
Google search conducted on August 29, 2017 at 11:51am PST In a television report for NBC Nightly News, Lester Holt and his investigative team were able to find Chinese-made, bulk fentanyl powder for sale on the Internet after searching for “buy fentanyl” online. When his crew sent an enquiry email to one of the listed…
[...]US Will Be Exposed to Counterfeits From Weak European Drug Security Warns Expert
In early July, European authorities reported that counterfeit versions of Omnitrope, a drug containing human growth hormone, were found in France, Denmark, and Mexico. The counterfeit Omnitrope was designed to look like it was made by a large drug manufacturer, but it contained no active ingredient. Shortly thereafter, German authorities announced that a fake version of a schizophrenia drug, Xeplion, was discovered in Germany. The Xeplion was also a knock-off, mimicking packaging used in Bulgaria and Romania.
These incidents are the latest in a stream of reports about counterfeit drugs throughout Europe. The problem lies in lax security of the supply chain — distributors, middlemen and wholesalers between the drug maker and the consumer. Despite ongoing problems with the EU drug supply chain, Congress is currently considering a bill that would open the U.S. to imports from the EU and elsewhere. We can’t have a serious debate about drug importation without understanding what is going on in Europe.
[...]National Boards of Pharmacy Finds only 4.2% of Online Pharmacies Are Safe
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) has just released their Internet Drug Outlet Identification Program Progress Report for State and Federal Regulators: August 2017, outlining the current state of fake online pharmacies that sell to U.S. patients.
Out of 11,688 Internet drug outlets reviewed, the NABP found that 11,142 (95.8%) were “operating out of compliance with state and federal laws and/or NABP patient safety and pharmacy standard practices.”
[...]Update On Fentanyl in Georgia
Image courtesy of the Georgia Poison Center The August newsletter from the National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS) News describes how the Georgia Poison Center (GPC) played a crucial role in the early detection of deadly, fentanyl-laced fake Percocet in Georgia. NDEWS describes how a call from an emergency-room doctor triggered the process of identifying…
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