Policy/Enforcement News

Drug shortages are driving desperate pharmacy managers to purchase from parallel importation sources that suspiciously have drugs that the manufacturers don’t – are they selling fake medication, stolen, or mishandled, or is it real? 360 drug shortages are predicted for 2011, reports Premier healthcare alliance, in a whitepaper dated August 2011, with the majority of…

By Dr. Marv Shepherd President, Partnership for Safe Medicines More than ever, American consumers are turning to the Internet to purchase goods at discounted rates. However, the online search for deals has taken a dangerous turn, as consumers look for cheap prescription medicines online at what appear to be legitimate pharmacies. Unfortunately, many people are…

Liberian researchers have found that more than 50% of antibiotic, antimalarial and pain relief medication are counterfeit or substandard. Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority officials collected 115 samples of common medications from public markets in Monrovia and tested them using the Global Pharma Health Fund’s Minilab. Some medications were found to have no…

Karachi police shut down a pharmaceuticals factory producing counterfeit antibiotics used for tuberculosis, confiscating fakes worth Rs20 million and arresting twelve people. The Vice Chancellor of Dow University of Health Sciences contacted officials after suspecting the drugs to be counterfeit and experts determined the medication was “completely bogus,” said Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad, director of the…

78% of all email is spam, and of that 66% is fake pharmacy spam. But the danger isn’t a clogged inbox: it’s dangerous fake medicine and computers disabled by viruses. While more than 50% of all email is fake pharmacy spam, this is better than it used to be. Drug spam alone used to be…

Czech police announced today that they busted an organized crime ring that had a factory that made “hundreds of thousands of [counterfeit] tablets.” The crime ring, composed of ex-athletes, body builders, fitness trainers and coaches, produced and sold counterfeit anabolic steroids and other hormone-based drugs, reports Czech Position. The police’s unit for combating organized crime,…

A test-buy conducted by Filipino National Bureau of Investigation agents determined counterfeit medicines were being mass distributed by a drug store chain throughout The Philippines.   Agents conducted raids of Sincere Drug Store branches and its warehouse facility in Bacolod City in June, acting on complaints that counterfeits of medications produced by legitimate Filipino manufacturers…