News
Bloomberg Misses The Mark In Its Article About Drug Importation Advocacy
In case you missed it, Bloomberg’s Ben Elgin has published an “in-depth” piece on the connection between PhRMA and the Partnership for Safe Medicines. However, this has been public and widely reported on for years. More concerningly, the story misses the broader point about the clear safety concerns of foreign drug importation. Over the past…
[...]Loving South Carolina Father Poisoned by Counterfeit Anxiety Medicine
Eric Highsmith Griffin of Lexington, South Carolina died of fentanyl poisoning on May 10, 2016 after taking a Xanax for anxiety. He had no way of knowing that the medicine he had purchased from a friend of a friend was not just like the medicine he’d been prescribed. He would never have risked his life or caused suffering to his children and family if he had known that a non-opioid anti-anxiety medication could really be a counterfeit poison pill.
[...]GL Holdings Issues Voluntary Worldwide Recall of Green Lumber Products Due to Presence of Undeclared Tadalafil
GL Holdings is voluntarily recalling six lots of Green Lumber 2-, 4-, and 10-capsule packages purchased on or before August 10, 2019 to the consumer level. FDA analysis has found one lot of Green Lumber distributed between June and August 2019 to be tainted with tadalafil.
[...]Man Sentenced To Over A Decade In Jail For Selling The Counterfeit Pill That Killed Jaydon Rogers
On March 11, 2018, 20-year-old Jaydon Rogers died after he ingested a counterfeit oxycodone pill made with fentanyl. Recently, one of the men who helped put that pill into his hand received a sentence of 128 months in federal prison…
[...]Multiple California Counties Warn Parents About Deadly Fake Pills After the Deaths of Two Teens in Santa Clara County
On September 30th, the Public Health Department of Santa Clara County, California updated a public health warning they had issued September 10th about deadly counterfeit 30mg oxycodone pills. The initial warning described “tablets visually appear to be the pharmaceutically manufactured version—they are circular in shape, light blue to light green in color, and have an ‘M’ inside a square stamped on one side and a ‘30’ stamped on the other side. Numerous fatal overdoses have been tied to these tablets, with a strong uptick in fatal overdoses in August 2019.”
[...]Former Pennsylvania Congressman Decries Fake Drug Sales Via Social Media
This editorial by Ryan Costello was published in The Philadelphia Enquirer on October 9, 2019. Mr. Costello is a former U.S. Congressman (PA-06), and is now a public policy consultant.
[...]Emory Health Policy Professor Says Drug Importation a Danger to Patient Health
This editorial by Dr. Kenneth E. Thorpe was published in Town Hall on October 8, 2019. Dr. Thorpe is a professor of health policy at Emory University and chairman of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease.
[...]Beloved Mother Slain by a Colorado Counterfeit Drug Trade
32-year-old Grand Junction resident Ashley Romero was the cherished eldest daughter of her close-knit Colorado family. With her warm heart and brilliant, 1,000 watt smile, she made friends everywhere she went. Ashley died on June 11, 2018, after taking half of an oxycodone pill. The pill was fake and actually made with fentanyl.
[...]PSM Member Spotlight: NeedyMeds
In a new series highlighting the good works done by our member organizations for their own causes, PSM spoke with Dr. Rich Sagall about NeedyMeds, the nonprofit he founded to Americans who are struggling to pay for their medications and other healthcare costs…
[...]PSM, Partners Host Fall 2019 Congressional Briefings About Counterfeit Drug Dangers
On September 24, 2019, the Partnership for Safe Medicines and 19 partner organizations held two congressional briefings about the real dangers counterfeit drugs pose to Americans, offering a clear picture of why importation cannot solve the problem of high drug prices in the U.S.:
Canada does not have enough prescription drugs to share with U.S.patients, and organized crime is poised to expand the counterfeit drug trade into the U.S. to bridge the gap without regard for the health and safety of U.S. residents. “The money to be made is far too great to worry about human life.”
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