News
New Mexico Oncologist Pleads Guilty to Providing Misbranded Cancer Medications to Patients
Dr. Mohamed Basel Aswad of Deming, New Mexico has admitted in court that he purchased misbranded and mislabeled cancer medication from a Canadian medication supplier. On November 4, 2014 Dr. Mohamed Basel Aswad pleaded guilty in an Albuquerque courtroom to misdemeanor charges that he introduced misbranded drugs into interstate commerce, the Department of Justice (DOJ)…
[...]California-based Company Sued for Allegedly Implanting Back Surgery Patients With Counterfeit Spinal Hardware
The former owner of a California hospital has pleaded guilty to participating in an illegal medical kickbacks conspiracy, and a medical equipment manufacturer has recalled of all of its spinal fusion hardware due to “performance failures that could cause patient harm.” The case is linked to more than two dozen lawsuits filed alleging that counterfeit…
[...]Daniel Burke Shares his Perspective on the Danger Fake Online Pharmacies Pose at Interchange 2014
Special Agent Burke shared cases such as grandmother Betty Hunter’s run-in with counterfeit cancer medication.
[...]4% of online drug sellers meet US safety standards
NAPB finds only 4% of online drug sellers meet United States safety standards: uncontrolled substances still readily available without a prescription online. For 6 years the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) has surveyed online drug sellers to investigate industry trends and has published their findings in their Internet Drug Outlet Identification Program Progress…
[...]New Scientist’s Curtis Abraham Extols Public Health Experts to Try Harder to Beat Fake Antimalarials
Author Curtis Abraham cites the latest results from the WorldWide Antimalarial Resist Network as motivation to improve malaria drug quality. Their most recent survey found that 30% of malaria drugs tested globally failed quality assurance tests. In an opinion piece for New Scientist, Curtis Abraham asks medical and disease professionals to work harder to stem…
[...]New Jersey Company Warned By FDA for Offering Fake Ebola Cures for Sale
FDA warns Natural Solutions Foundation that the products they offer for sale are not Ebola cures and are therefore “misbranded.” At present there is no practical cure for Ebola, though several different vaccines are in development. A company in New Jersey using Youtube, Facebook and other online means to advertise their offerings has been sent…
[...]Man Imported Fake Cancer Drugs From Turkey Gets 2 Years and 3 Months in Prison
Download BlackMarketCancer_singlepage.pdf (881.4K) Ozkan Semizoglu earlier had pleaded guilty to charges that he and his company, Ozay Pharmaceuticals, shipped counterfeit versions of life-saving cancer medications into the United States. Ozay Pharmaceuticals was one of several sources for the fake cancer drugs that have plagued U.S. oncology clinics since 2012. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has…
[...]LA City Attorney & Health Authority Law Enforcement Task Force Go After Fake Drugs Sellers
Following earlier successful raids by the Ventura County Task Force, new investigations in Los Angeles County have turned up counterfeit and misbranded medications for sale at small stores and swap meets all over the LA. Basin. The Los Angeles Daily News reports that fake medication sellers working at stores and swap meets in Los Angeles…
[...]Black Market Injectable Cosmetic Treatments, a Nationwide Problem
Between 2005 and 2013, there was one death and 11 other patients who required medical attention for disfigurement or serious illness as the result of receiving fake or misbranded cosmetic injectables while at a doctor’s office, clinic, or salon. Black Market Cosmetic Injectables in the U.S. 2005-2013 attempts to describe the scope of the problem.
[...]Computer Science Researchers Create an Automated System for Profiling Counterfeit Medication/Product Affiliate Networks
UC San Diego research team develops a system by which automated web crawling programs can identify spam-based sales websites and connect them to large affiliate networks. A 2014 paper by UC San Diego researchers Matthew Der, Lawrence K. Saul, Stefan Savage, and Geoffrey M. Voelker titled “Knock It Off: Profiling the Online Storefronts of Counterfeit…
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