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.
A San Francisco area news station, NBC Bay Area conducted a survey of Bay Area counties and found at least 130 fentanyl-related deaths since 2015. NBC Bay Area spoke to John Martin, special agent in charge for the drug agency’s San Francisco division. Special Agent Martin told them “What we’ve seen here in Northern California…
Investigators confirm that pills found near Chloe Kotval’s body were fake Percocet containing a lethal dose of fentanyl. She is the youngest Canadian to be killed by fentanyl-laced fake medication, but hardly the first. Chloe Kotval, a 14 year old Ottawa high school student died on February 14, 2017 after taking a counterfeit pill laced…
Arizona resident Betty Hunter died of lung cancer, but how much longer would she have lived if her oncologist had not treated her with counterfeit Avastin? A recent Danish documentary tells the tragic story of Arizona grandmother Betty Hunter, who in 2011 sought treatment for her lung cancer at an oncology clinic in Chandler Arizona.…
An investigation into the corruption of former Governor Javier Duarte has uncovered allegations that children with cancer were treated in state-run hospitals in Veracruz with counterfeit chemotherapy medicines due to budget shortfalls and lack of resources caused by his administration. The BBC reports, that when tested, the counterfeit chemotherapy drugs came back as an inert…
When Prince Rogers Nelson died in April, it was reported that he died of an apparent overdose of opiates, which he had used to combat chronic hip pain. Now a new report from Minneapolis indicates he died as a result of taking counterfeit hydrocodone containing deadly fentanyl. Prince Rogers Nelson, an American musician and performer,…
As counterfeit pills containing various fentanyl analogues are killing people all over the United States, the DEA takes a measure of this deadly and growing counterfeit drug epidemic. The recent arrival of large amounts of “counterfeit prescription drugs containing fentanyls” is causing an explosive growth in overdose deaths in the United States, according to a…
Venezuelan man posed as a doctor at a Florida esthetician clinic, and injected victim with non-FDA approved substance, which triggered her death. The case is similar to the rash of cases that have recently been uncovered in Texas. Jose Robusto, a Venezuelan sought in the aesthetic treatment death of 28 year old Suyima Torres, has…
After three years of evading arrest, Jose Robusto has been booked by Miami authorities for manslaughter and charges that he practiced medicine without a license. Robusto is alleged to have killed Suyima Torres of Miami in June 2013 by giving her an injection of an unknown, oily yellow substance as a beauty enhancement. He introduced…
NBC news show examines the clandestine business of administering non-FDA approved beauty treatments. In the new episode of American Greed, titled “Vanity and Greed: Deadly Beauty”, the NBC show looks at the story of two convicted practitioners of counterfeit beauty treatments. Mississippi resident Tracey Lynn Garner was found guilty of murder in the death of…
A 37-year-old mother is dead after taking what she thought was the anti-anxiety medication Xanax. Her family is asking authorities to investigate her death. In January 2016, Misty Burnett took pills that she thought were Xanax, reports News Channel 5. Shortly thereafter Misty’s 18-year-old daughter discovered her mother dead. Alicia Allred, the girl’s aunt told…