Policy/Enforcement News
Ohio Resident Charged With Selling Dietary Supplements Laced with Pharmaceuticals
Khaled Farouk Elgayar of North Olmstead, Ohio, has been charged in federal court with selling misbranded drugs, the Department of Justice (DOJ) reports. Elgayar purchased in bulk a variety of supposedly herbal supplements with names such as “African Superman,” “Hard Ten Days,” “Herb Viagra,” “libigrow,” “S.W.A.G” and “Triple PowerZEN,” for resale in the United States,…
[...]DEA Suspects Deadly Fake Percocet in Georgia Coming from Mexican Cartels
Overdoes by Counties in Georgia DEA agents suspect Mexican drug cartels are behind the wave over overdoses and deaths caused by fake Percocet pills made with fentanyl analogues. The DEA is exploring possible ties between the national wave of fake pain pills laced with fentanyl and Mexican crime organizations, reports Georgia news station Alive11. DEA…
[...]White House Opioid Crisis Commission Gives Warning
The President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis has released an interim report that strongly asserts that we, as a nation, are “in crisis.” The first recommendation from the Commission is for a national emergency to be declared. Other recommendations include…
[...]National Sheriffs’ Association Opposes Legislation On Drug Importation
The National Sheriffs’ Association passed a resolution at their conference opposing pending drug importation proposals. The resolution highlighted multiple reasons why drug importation is a bad idea for everyone…
[...]Kansas Woman Convicted of Tax Evasion Also Faces Counterfeit Drug Charges
Example of counterfeit Botox courtesy USFDA. The former owner of a Leawood, Kansas business, Midwest Medical Aesthetics, has been charged with importation of misbranded drugs. Kathleen Stegman has been charged with illegally importing $194,000 worth of non-FDA approved “Botox,” Dysport,” “Restylane,” “Perlane,” and “Sculptra,” according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Stegman is currently…
[...]Former Attorneys General of Georgia and Florida Speak Out Against Drug Importation
The bills before Congress would remove many of the license and oversight requirements on the drugs imported into the United States by lifting those barriers, inviting an influx of bogus pharmaceutical products from the same crime rings that are selling these drugs in other countries around the world that would love better access to the U.S. market.
Law enforcement would inevitably be tasked with policing the problem, at a time when most prosecutors and law enforcement officials have their hands full with the growing opioid crisis. One of the biggest killers is fentanyl, a potent, synthetic opioid pain medication that is being laced into counterfeit pills.
[...]FDA Regulation Keeps Both our Food and Medicines Safe
When policymakers talk about drug importation, they often make comparisons to importation of food. “If we can import produce safely,” they say, “don’t tell me we can’t import medicine.”
The truth is that importing food safely is difficult. The stakes are even higher when we import medicine: no one expects lettuce to cure cancer . . .
[...]Women in 2 States Indicted in Separate Clandestine Silicone Injection Scams
Update: In May 2017, Deanna Roberts pleaded guilty to illegally injecting persons with liquid silicone and for introducing liquid silicone that was obtained by fraud into interstate commerce. Roberts, who continued to administer industrial grade silicone injections even after she knew that one her patients had died and others had been hospitalized, was sentenced to…
[...]Fake Pills Manufacturing Equipment Found in Canadian Drug Dealer Bust
Police in Ottawa made a disturbing discovery when conducting a drug bust, CBC Canada is reporting. In addition to finding a typical array of cash, drugs and guns, Ottawa police found a quantity of an “unknown powder” that has yet to be analyzed, and a counterfeit pill press capable of producing 20,000 counterfeit pills an…
[...]A Conspiracy of Warm Boxes: The Story of Canadian Drug Wholesaler SB Medical and their Disregard for Patient Safety
The case against Canadian drug importer SB Medical/TC Medical Group is one of the largest prosecutions of its kind. In 2015, the company and four of its employees were sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiracy and misbranded prescription pharmaceutical charges, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ press release at the time…
[...]