Fake Drugs Have Real Consequences for Patients

Black market medicine is terrible for patients all over the world, including Americans. At best, counterfeit and substandard medicine may not adequately treat a patient's illness. At worst, counterfeit medicines may cause poisoning or death.

Each of the following stories mentions people who have been sickened or died after being treated with fake medicine. Every day, American patients are harmed when they break the closed U.S. drug supply.

Newlywed groom dies from sex drug side-effect

October 21, 2007

LAHORE: A newlywed groom died on Sunday after taking sex drugs in the Green Town police precinct. Green Town police Sub Inspector Muhammad Ashiq said Shahbaz Ahmad (30), a resident of Green Town, got married on Thursday. During initial interrogation, he said, it was disclosed that on Saturday night Shahbaz after taking sex drugs left…

Counterfeit drugs caused woman’s death, coroner concludes

July 7, 2007

VANCOUVER — Shoddy pills from a bogus online pharmacy are to blame for the death of a 58-year-old woman from Vancouver Island, a coroner’s report says. Yesterday’s conclusion makes Marcia Bergeron the first clear-cut case of a death stemming from counterfeit drugs bought on the Internet, but it likely won’t be the last, said Rose…

Woman dies after buying and ingesting drugs she purchased on line

July 6, 2007

VANCOUVER/CKNW – A BC coroner has ruled a Quadra island woman who died after buying and ingesting a number of drugs she purchased on line suffered from cardiac arrhythmia brought on by metal toxicity. And the report highlights the dangers of buying drugs on line. Marcia Ann Bergeron was 58 years old. She is believed…

Pharmacist, Patient Groups Call for Inquest into B.C. Counterfeit-Pills Death

March 23, 2007

OTTAWA, March 22 /CNW Telbec/ – A coalition of Canadian pharmacists and patients today called on the Regional Coroner for Vancouver Island to hold an inquest into the death of a British Columbia woman who died apparently after taking counterfeit pills she ordered online from a purported Canadian internet pharmacy. The Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA),…

Fake malaria drug implicated in Burmese man’s death

June 12, 2006

A 23-year old man in Burma with malaria died because the medicine he received was fake, according to an investigative report by an international team of researchers published in PLoS Medicine. The patient went to a rural hospital in East Burma with a fever and was diagnosed as having a straightforward case of falciparum malaria.…

Millions Vulnerable to Counterfeit Drugs

June 10, 2006

Rick Roberts knows first-hand about counterfeit drugs. Roberts, an AIDS patient, questioned his pharmacist after injecting himself with a drug that was supposed to help him keep weight on. Almost immediately, he felt painful stinging. He soon found out that the medication was counterfeit. “For me, the most present problem was not knowing and having…

Fake drug in 2 Jiangsu deaths

May 31, 2006

A HOSPITAL in Jiangsu Province is investigating whether the death of two patients was caused by a fake drug made by a Heilongjiang Province drugmaker, a newspaper reported yesterday. The two men were injected with Armillarisin A made by the Qiqihar No. 2 Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, said the Modern Express. Wang Xiyong, 27, died on…

Fake Botox Sickens 4, Arizona Suppliers Land in Jail

January 26, 2006

View larger map Four people who had been treated in a South Florida clinic developed Botulism poisoning as a result of injections with counterfeit Botox. Two were patients at a facility licensed as a spa called Advanced Integrated Medical Center (AIMC). The other two were Bach McComb, the owner of AIMC, and his assistant Alma…

4 Deaths Tied to Counterfeit Drugs Dispensed at Ontario, Canada Pharmacy

September 9, 2005

View larger map King West Pharmacy in Hamilton, Ontario came under scrutiny and the pharmacist of record there was arrested after 11 people died after being prescribed what turned out to be counterfeit versions of Norvasc, a Pfizer heart medication. The pills were actually made of talcum powder. Who: Ontario Regional Coroner’s Office, Royal Canadian…