News
Enforcement Challenges with Fake Online Pharmacies: Special Agent Dan Burke at Interchange 2013
FDA Special Agent Dan Burke was gracious enough to participate in an Interchange 2013 panel concerning fake online pharmacies. Special Agent Burke knows more about fake online pharmacies than most. His job is to investigate the highly organized illegal operations behind a typical fake online pharmacy. He is the senior operations manager in FDA’s Cybercrimes…
[...]PSM Releases Report on Black Market IUDs at U.S. Clinics
Between 2009 and 2014, 35 doctors in 7 states were prosecuted for exposing women to non-FDA approved IUDs. Doctors have been accused of purchasing IUDs from “Canadian” fake online pharmacies and importing untested IUDs from Mexico, then billing Medicare for the cost of genuine, FDA-approved IUDs. Over the same time period, authorities estimated that over 450 women were implanted with misbranded, black-market IUDs.
[...]Pharmacists in 3 States Implicated in Schemes to Illegally Import Drugs and Defraud Medicare
Learn more about black market cancer drug cases by downloading this resource. While many pharmacists act as custodians for their patients’ safety, three different pharmacists in California, New York, and Pennsylvania have either been indicted or pleaded guilty to charges ranging from prescription drug smuggling and money laundering, to heath care fraud and illegal diversion…
[...]Study Shows Internet Savvy Ages More Concerned with Medicine Safety
Graphic from PwC’s report, “Younger consumers are more concerned about the safety and quality of their medications” A recent survey by Pricewaterhouse Coopers found that people 18-24 had the greatest concerns when it comes to medicine safety. Greater numbers of young consumers express concern about the quality and safety of their medications than those 65…
[...]Cleveland News Station Ends Up With Fake Drugs When They Try Buying Online
A news channel conducted their own investigation into purchasing prescription drugs online. Testing of the drugs they received proved they were counterfeit, and in some cases contained dangerous banned compounds. A Colorado news station, 9 News Colorado, shared with their viewers the disturbing experience of their sister news station, WKYC in Cleveland. WKYC’s investigation in…
[...]UNODC Launches New Consumer Awareness Campaign Emphasizing the Organized Crime Element Present in Counterfeiting.
Download What Kind of Businesses Are Fake Online Pharmacies New campaign, “Counterfeit: Don’t Buy Into Organized Crime” addresses the dangers posed to consumers who purchase medicine that turns out to be counterfeit. “Counterfeit: Don’t Buy Into Organized Crime,” the new consumer awareness campaign launched today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime…
[...]Texas Doctor Pleads Guilty to Buying Misbranded Cancer Drugs from Supplier of Fake Avastin
Download BlackMarketCancer_Long.pdf (881.4K) Dr. Eduardo Miranda, an oncologist practicing in Laredo, Texas, was accused of illegally importing non-FDA approved cancer medications from a known source of counterfeit Avastin. In December 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that Dr. Eduardo Miranda had pleaded guilty to charges that he imported non-FDA approved cancer medication into…
[...]Maine Pharmacist Amelia Arnold at the Interchange 2013
Ms. Arnold spoke at Interchange 2013 about the events in her state that resulted in the passage of a controversial law that allows non-FDA approved medication to be imported from unregulated sources into the state of Maine. At the heart of this recent law is a Canadian business called CanaRX that Ms. Arnold stated “came into…
[...]Guilty Pleas for Workers and Owners of Illegal Pharmaceutical Wholesaler in Virginia
In August 2013, the Department of Justice announced indictments of eleven people involved in running an unlicensed pharmaceutical wholesale business out of suburban Virginia. To date, seven employees of Gallant Pharma International, along with one of its co-owners have pleaded guilty to charges of importing and distributing non-FDA approved injectable medications via their unlicensed wholesale…
[...]Learn the Safe Way to Empty Your Flexible Spending Account
Download FSA.pdf (493.3K) As we approach the end of the year, people seeking to empty their flexible spending accounts or avoid new prescription deductibles in the new year will order prescriptions and other medical supplies online.But the convenience of purchasing online shouldn’t prevent you from ensuring that your…
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