Policy/Enforcement News
Fake Antibiotics Found in Six States
The FDA has issued an alert warning American consumers to be on the look out for look-alike fake antibiotics. Dietary supplements purporting to have antibiotic or antifungal properties that actually contain no antimicrobial ingredients have been found in five states but may be found elsewhere in the US.
[...]Google planning to pay as much as $500mm to settle charges of advertising illegal online pharmacies
Paid advertising only 1/4th of the problem; rogue pharmacies still operate in email, social media, and organic search results
The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and many other news outlets are reporting that the US Attorney’s office of Rhode Island has developed an investigation into pharmaceutical advertising practices by Google that involve rogue online pharmacies advertising on the search giant. None of the articles mention the fact that illegal online pharmacies still show up in the organic search results.
“For years we have decried the ease with which rogue pharmacies preyed on consumers through search advertising,” said Dr. Bryan Liang, Vice President of the Partnership for Safe Medicines. “These rogue pharmacies have spent years developing their spam email campaigns, organic search rank, and most recently, their social media presences. Even after this settlement, they still pose a grave health threat to consumers.”
A recent study from NABP (National Association of the Boards of Pharmacy) found that 96% of the online pharmacies they screened online were not safe for consumers, demonstrating that the danger to consumers is still very pervasive.
Use of search advertising from Google, Yahoo!, and MSN has been a convenient way for rogue pharmacies all over the world to reach American consumers with their often deadly products. The problem came to light in 2001 when teenager Ryan Haight bought prescription drugs over the Internet without a prescription and subsequently died from an overdose. In 2004, all major online search engines adopted a third party verification service to screen out illegal pharmacies.
However subsequent research into online pharmacies by Dr. Liang and Tim Mackey identified purported verification services utilized by search engines were not filtering out illegal sellers. Further, independent entities Knujon and LegitScript later confirmed that the screening service was not keeping illegal pharmacies out, and that 80-90% of the ads being placed were from online pharmacies that violate state laws.
[...]Fake Anti-Malaria Medicine Spreads Malaria
Bright Ekweremadu, the Managing Director of the Society for Family Health (SFH) blames “rampant adulteration” of anti-malaria drugs for malaria rates in Nigeria.
[...]Supplement Maker Sentenced for Using Unapproved Drugs
An Idaho federal court sentenced a Vista, California nutritional supplement maker, Tribravus Enterprises, for the unlawful manufacture and distribution of unapproved synthetic steroids in over-the-counter pills marketed as “dietary supplements.”
[...]Texas Attorney General Sues Fake Antibiotic Distributor
The Texas Attorney General’s Office is suing two American companies for distributing products falsely advertised as antibiotics that were marketed primarily to Spanish speakers in the U.S.
After an Austin hospital alerted authorities that pediatric patients had been given fake antibiotics, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) issued a warning and opened an investigation.
[...]Texas Children Given Fake Antibiotics
Texas officials are investigating several over-the-counterfeit medications falsely advertised as antibiotics and warning people to avoid these fakes.
Doctors in an Austin hospital reported that several children were given these products by their parents, prompting the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to issue a warning and open an investigation.
[...]Increased Vigilance Secures Medical Supply Chain
Pharmaceutical cargo theft rates have stayed flat since 2008, after a 283 percent increase between 2006 and 2008. Ed Silverman of Pharmalot reports that “attempts to curtail hijacked trucks and warehouse burglaries may be making a different in the rate of pharmaceutical thefts” due to increased vigilance by drug makers. Most pharmaceutical cargo thefts are…
[...]More Defendants Sentenced in U.S. Illegal Online Pharmacy Case
Two more conspirators were sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiring to unlawfully distribute human growth hormone and anabolic steroids through an online pharmacy on April 20th, 2011 in Miami, Florida.
William L. Dailey, 72, of Boca Raton, Florida and James M. D’Amico, 58, a former licensed dentist from Cape Coral, Florida worked for Powermedica, Inc., a pharmacy in Deerfield Beach, Florida, and were sentenced in March and April 2011, after their co-conspirators, Daniel L. Dailey, the CEO, and Manuel Sanguily, a prescribing physician, were sentenced last year, announced Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and David W. Bourne, Special Agent in Charge, FDA.
Powermedica sold hGH and anabolic steroids to customers nationwide. Doctors involved with the illegal online pharmacy would merely rubber stamp the orders for the drugs without examining the patients or even reviewing their medical histories.
Defendant Daniel L. Dailey was the Chief Executive Officer of Powermedica and his father, William L. Dailey, was Powermedica’s president and Chief Operating Officer. Manuel Sanguily and James M. D’Amico signed the drug orders that purported to be “prescriptions” for the dispensing of the hGH and anabolic steroids to Powermedica’s nationwide clientele.
The defendants all admitted that they knew that the hGH and anabolic steroids Powermedica distributed were being used for performance enhancement and admitted that they knew that Powermedica’s sales staff, who were not medically trained, were deciding in consultation with the customers which drugs the customers were to receive. In addition, they all admitted that the licensed practitioners, such as Sanguily and D’Amico, were simply signing the prepared drugs orders without meeting with, talking to, or physically examining the customers, and without reviewing the customer’s medical history record or blood test results, announced Ferrer and Bourne.
Pharmacy Technician Indicted in Major Drug Diversion
April 25, 2011 – Cleveland, Ohio prosecutors have charged four people in a forty count indictment for allegedly conducting a major prescription drug diversion ring, dealing millions in painkillers. Cuyahoga County prosecutors said that drugs were obtained with the help of a pharmacy insider and then sold on the street. Ebonie Hubbard, a pharmacy technician…
[...]Thirteen Indicted of Infiltrating Hospital with Fake Drugs
Thirteen suspects were charged by the Luwan District Prosecutors’ Office of manufacturing and selling a fake cancer drug that caused eye infections in 61 people in Shanghai on April 26, 2011. 116 patients of Shanghai No. 1 People’s Hospital were prescribed Avastin, a cancer drug also used to treat macular degeneration in September 2010. Of…
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