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.”

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Counterfeit Prescription Drugs a Problem in Canada & Australia

The National Post reports that since October 2015, Health Canada has stopped almost 10,000 packages containing counterfeit prescription drugs at the Canadian border. New reports from a 2010 incident reveal that counterfeit drugs ended up in 260 pharmacies and four hospitals in Australia. Patients were protected by a thorough hospital pharmacist who noticed “it was grittier than normal.”

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Canadian Online Pharmacy Retains Canadian License Despite U.S. Allegations of Selling $78 Million in Fake Drugs to Americans

Online pharmacy Canada Drugs, under indictment for selling millions of dollars worth of fake and misbranded cancer medications to U.S. medical offices, still retains its license to operate from the College of Pharmacists of Manitoba, according to CBC’s Karen Pauls. Despite accusations from U.S. federal prosecutors for allegedly selling $78 million of unapproved, misbranded and…

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Fake Pills Manufacturing Equipment Found in Canadian Drug Dealer Bust

Police in Ottawa made a disturbing discovery when conducting a drug bust, CBC Canada is reporting. In addition to finding a typical array of cash, drugs and guns, Ottawa police found a quantity of an “unknown powder” that has yet to be analyzed, and a counterfeit pill press capable of producing 20,000 counterfeit pills an…

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Canada Drugs Indictment: Six Canadians Arrested & Facing Extradition

Almost three years after the original grand jury indictment in November 2014, the owner of Canada Drugs and five of his co-conspirators were arrested on June 14 and 15 in Canada under the Extradition Act, reports CBC News. Kristjan Thorkelson, Thomas Haughton, Ronald Sigurdson, Darren Chalus, Troy Nakamura, and James Trueman have been arrested in…

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Canada Drug Center Parent Company Charged for Selling Misbranded Drugs to Americans

McCall Test Results - Partnership for Safe Medicines

Canadian pharmaceutical importer Quantum Solutions and its officers have been charged with two felony counts by the DOJ. Quantum Solutions runs a dozen different pharmacy websites, including Canada Drug Center. Dr. Kenneth McCall, of the University of New England, tested prescriptions from Canada Drug Center in 2014, and found they were substandard and contaminated. Three…

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Counterfeit Drugs Made With Fentanyl Part of Urgent Public Health Threat

  Richard Baum, acting director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, warned the House Energy and Commerce Committee that “illicit fentanyl is an urgent public health threat,” in a letter dated Wednesday, March 29, reports the Wall Street Journal. Baum’s letter cites the tripling of the death rate due to fentanyl…

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Death of Ottawa Teens Blamed on Counterfeit Percocet Made with Fentanyl

Investigators confirm that pills found near Chloe Kotval’s body were fake Percocet containing a lethal dose of fentanyl. She is the youngest Canadian to be killed by fentanyl-laced fake medication, but hardly the first. Chloe Kotval, a 14 year old Ottawa high school student died on February 14, 2017 after taking a counterfeit pill laced…

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Betty Hunter’s Death Illustrates Danger of Fake Drugs

Arizona resident Betty Hunter died of lung cancer, but how much longer would she have lived if her oncologist had not treated her with counterfeit Avastin? A recent Danish documentary tells the tragic story of Arizona grandmother Betty Hunter, who in 2011 sought treatment for her lung cancer at an oncology clinic in Chandler Arizona.…

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