Patient Harm
Peer-reviewed journal article estimates 300,000 child fatalities annually due to counterfeit medication
The Partnership for Safe Medicines and the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP Global), two public health advocacy groups focused on patient safety and the secure pharmaceutical supply chain, released an infographic today to call attention to the human toll that counterfeit medicines take on children in low and middle income countries.
[...]Boyfriend Who Gave His Girlfriend The Counterfeit Pill That Killed Her Sentenced to Four Years in Prison
Read our 2018 information sheet about counterfeit drugs in Illinois. On March 21, 2019, 22-year-old Jacob Reis of Cary, Illinois pleaded guilty to charges he gave his 19-year-old girlfriend, Rachel Ramirez, a deadly fentanyl-laced counterfeit pill that killed her, the Northwest Herald reports. According to a 2018 article in the Northwest Herald, Reis and another…
[...]Colorado Mother Works to Raise Awareness About Addiction and Self-Harm
Grand Junction resident Andrea Thomas lost her daughter Ashley to counterfeit oxycodone in June 2018. Now, she is determined to protect others. Her new foundation, Voices for Awareness, promotes awareness about substance abuse and self-harm. On July 27, 2019, the organization will hold its first conference—free to the public—at Costa Mesa University, as well as the “Fight for Awareness,” a professional boxing event in which fighters from all over Colorado will dedicate their match to a loved one lost to substance abuse or suicide.
[...]Arizona Couple Indicted for Selling Counterfeit Pills Made with Fentanyl, Pills Implicated in Death of Arkansas Man
Jacob Medina and his pregnant girlfriend, Diane Erika Marin, have been arrested in connection with a counterfeit pill distribution ring that is allegedly responsible for killing an Arkansas man, the KATV reports.
[...]WHO: Counterfeit medicines kill up to 300,000 children each year
Counterfeit medicines kill up to 300,000 children each year See PSM’s infographic for a visual summary. In a shocking new report published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, researchers have documented the true toll of counterfeit medicines around the world due to medicine being subtherapeutic or outright ineffective. Subtherapeutic medicine allows…
[...]Black Market Medicines Can Ruin An HIV Patient’s Entire Drug Protocol
Immunodeficient patients need to strictly adhere to our prescribed drug protocols because any slip could compromise our current treatment plans. Only purchasing FDA-approved medicines from licensed U.S pharmacies is an essential step in keeping ourselves as healthy as possible…
[...]One Dead and Five Sickened in Mississippi by Fake Oxycodone Made with Fentanyl and Methamphetamine
According to the Hattiesburg American, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics officials reported that there have been five overdoses and one death since the beginning of March in the area.
[...]HIV-Positive Advocate Reminds Americans About the Dangers of Imported Drugs
It isn’t just policymakers who believe drug importation will open the U.S. drug supply to counterfeits. In this editorial, published in the Times of Northwest Indiana on March 6, 2019, HIV-positive advocate Brandon Macsata explains that his own physician objected to ordering medicine from Canadian online pharmacies:
“It never crossed my mind that I might have been taking counterfeit medicine, or that the medicines meant to control my HIV could be compromising my immune system. So when my doctor found out, she told me to stop immediately. She warned me that online pharmacies often sell counterfeit drugs.”
[...]Five People Charged Over The Death Of Ashley Romero From A Fake Fentanyl Pill
The U.S. Department of Justice handed down a superseding indictment in federal court charging five people for their roles in the counterfeit fentanyl pill death of a 32-year-old mother in Colorado in June 2018…
[...]Nevada Woman Admits To Selling Counterfeit Fentanyl Pills That Killed
The U.S. Department of Justice announced a guilty plea from Tianna Cordova in a Nevada case. Cordova admitted to selling drugs, including the counterfeit pill made with fentanyl that killed 26-year-old Christina Kuerner…
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