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The second panelist, Connie Jung from the Office of Drug Security, Integrity and Recall from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration spoke about how to help patients protect themselves from counterfeit drugs. She said that patients first of all need to be aware of the risk of receiving counterfeit medications and potential problems associated with…

Bejon Misra, Founder of Partnership for Safe Medicines India, moderated the third panel, "The Role of Patients & Healthcare Professionals."   Misra began the session by showing a video that highlights the work of PSM India.  Misra began by distributing tokens of appreciation from the Board of PSM India to the Board of Partnership for…

Maryland Attorney General, Douglas F. Gansler, spoke on Panel 2.   Said Gansler, "We all have a blind trust in the drugs we take, the doctor says we'll get better when we take it, and we trust that medication is what it purports to be. "But counterfeit drugs make it not the case. " Said…

Libby Baney, advisor for the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies, spoke as part of Panel 2, “Combating Drug Counterfeiting & Sales.” She moved the crowd in her opening statement with a personal story of her sister’s encounter with counterfeit drugs.

Moderator Scotti Russell, from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, which received the Partnership for Safe Medicines Guardian Award last night, led the "Combating Drug Counterfeiting & Sales" panel. The first speaker, Alex Bamiagis, advisor for the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) Victoria Espinel while on detail from U.S. Customs and Border Protection…

Travis Johnson, Director of Legislative Affairs and Policy, International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition, spoke on panel one about what industry is doing to fight counterfeiting.   He said that the borders are not the only places to look for counterfeit medicines and that law enforcement has to ask "how are people finding the fake drugs?"   He…

Alex Dahl, Coalition for Patient Safety and Medicine Integrity, spoke first at the "Protecting Our Medicines" panel about cargo theft, and the stealing of medicines out of the legitimate supply chain. What is the crime problem?  Large, sophisiticated criminal organizations are taking methodical stpes to steal medicines from cargo, and then reintroduce them into the…

Sen. Bennet (Colorado) was the first speaker at the Partnership for Safe Medicines 2011 Interchange.  His remarks were videotaped and will be available in video format soon on our YouTube channel.

At the Partnership for Safe Medicines pre-conference reception on October 26, 2011, in Washington, DC, PSM President Dr. Marv Shepherd presented the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy with the Partnership for Safe Medicines Guardian Award for heroically contributing to drug safety.

Presenting the award to Elizabeth Scott Russell of NABP (shown in the photo), Dr. Shepherd spoke about NABP’s work protecting consumers from dangerous drugs purchased over the internet.  NABP has created three critical developments that have significantly improved consumer education and protection.

Dr. Shepherd cited NABP’s development of the VIPPS® (Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites) accreditation program, which helps consumers find safe sources for purchasing medicine online. NABP keeps a database of verified online pharmacies that are safe for consumers to purchase from on their website at http://vippspharmacies.net/.

Websites unaffiliated with pharmacies that sell medication online prey upon people who depend upon medication for their health, and chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes and cancer. In order to combat these fake pharmacies, NABP and the state boards of pharmacy have instituted a consumer protection program, AWARxE, www.awarerx.org, which provides information to safely obtain medication and news and links on NABP resources.