News Coverage
The Partnership for Safe Medicines has been publishing information about the counterfeit drug problem around the world for more than a decade. With experts leading the organization and a committed and passionate set of writers and editors, our content is more in-depth than many other sources, which simply copy links to the news from other websites.
The reality that key issues in healthcare go beyond geo-
political lines is evident by challenges associated with important public
health concerns. Pandemics, human-sourced disasters, drug safety, HIV-
AIDS and TB control and treatment all represent global circumstances
that require a wide array of stakeholder efforts to effectively address.
Simultaneously, a much broader range of global health organizations have
increasingly played a role in addressing these and other international
public health needs beyond traditional public health authorities.
Foundations, international agencies outside the health realm, and the
private sector have also become key participants in creating policies and
programs in an effort to promote global public health.
Hence, the Institute of Health Law Studies (IHLS) convened the 7th Annual
San Diego Health Policy Conference, entitled “Public-Private Partnerships
in Global Health.” The conference explored different models of public-
private partnerships emerging from the expansion of global health activities
to these larger bodies of groups, and will provide lessons for participants,
providers, and policymakers as to how to best engage these entities and
systems to most effectively and efficiently advance global health.
Tom Kubic speaking at another conferenceby Safe Medicines via Flickr. The reality that key issues in healthcare go beyond geo- political lines is evident by challenges associated with important public health concerns. Pandemics, human-sourced disasters, drug safety, HIV- AIDS and TB control and treatment all represent global circumstances that require a wide array of stakeholder…
Investigators at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office have filed indictments against fifteen Seoul pharmacists for selling fake erectile dysfunction medications manufactured in China. Reports the Korea Herald, this is the first time pharmacists have been charged with selling fake medication in Seoul. Prosecutors say the pharmacists bought the medication from smugglers and then sold…
Responding to the ongoing cases of counterfeiters in their countries, Argentinian and Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturers are installing anti-counterfeiting solutions in their products. Gador Laboratories, located in Buenos Aires, is deploying a radio frequency identification (RFID) solution to track products and pallets, after a month-long pilot. The system has three levels of security with item-level RFID…
Instances of elderly exploitation are rising and protective services in Pike County are taking a lead in educating senior citizens to avoid counterfeit drug scams. Providing services for senior citizens over the age of 60, Robin LoDolce, the Executive Director for the Pike aging office, is concerned about the recent trends in exploitation, reports the…
The Irish medicines Board (IMB) detained almost double the quantity of counterfeit and illegal medicines in 2010 as it did in 2009 with a 500% increase in the quantity of illegal weight loss products many of which contained the dangerous drug sibutramine which can cause heart attack and stroke. IMB said there was a 66%…
Tom Kubic at the Congressional briefing on March 30, 2011. See all the photos. Counterfeit drugs – like the 20,000 pills seized last month by U.S. Customs official at Kennedy Airport in New York – defraud consumers and deny patients therapies that can alleviate suffering and save lives. Unfortunately, in some cases, these drugs have caused great…
Philadelphia resident Mimi Trieu, 46, was sentenced on March 10th to three months in prison for importing and distributing four million fake diet pills that contained a carcinogenic chemical solvent among other dangerous ingredients. The U.S. Department of Justice announced her sentencing was a result of her guilty plea to an 18 count indictment including…
Due to public concern related to the nuclear incident in Japan, the FDA is warning consumers to be wary of drugs falsely touting radiation exposure treatment.
Potassium iodide (KI) has been approved by the FDA to prevent thyroid cancer in people internally contaminated with radioactive iodine, however the U.S. government is not recommending that residents take KI, even as a preventative. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission indicates that no part of the U.S. is expected to experience any harmful levels of radioactivity.
The FDA is warning consumers to be wary of internet sites and retail outlets promoting products that make claims to prevent or treat radiation, these claims may be false and the products may not be FDA approved.
Ex-chief of a British pharmaceutical wholesaler, Richard Kemp, pleaded ignorance on the stand when accused of conspiring to sell counterfeit cancer medication made in Singapore to British residents. The Flintshire Chronicle reports that he says he didn’t know he was funding a counterfeit operation when he agreed to bankroll Consolidated Medical Supplies (CMS) and their…
A California resident pleaded guilty on March 17th, 2011 to selling counterfeit drugs, illegally imported from China, on craigslist.com. United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Troy James Taylor, 39, of Elk Grove, CA, pleaded guilty to selling fake drugs from May 2007 through March of 2008 after being caught receiving a package of…
On March 15, The White House issued legislative recommendations to Congress and advocated for increased vigilance in the fight against fake medicine. Victoria Espinel, U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, said on the White House blog that “we are seeking six legislative changes to fight counterfeits drugs, including increased criminal penalties for counterfeit drug offenses, particularly…
£1 million pounds of suspected fake medicine was seized by British agents of The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and three men were arrested in London. Three residencies were raided, as well as a storage unit, in the north and east areas of London where more than 300,000 tablets of fake medications were…
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said his panel would take up legislation to combat counterfeit medication distribution following a “60 Minutes” story exposing the importation of fake drugs into the U.S. each year Sen. Leahy said he was developing legislation to give the Justice Department stronger tools to fight counterfeit medicine sellers,…
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said his panel would take up legislation to combat counterfeit medication distribution following a “60 Minutes” story exposing the importation of fake drugs into the U.S. each year Sen. Leahy said he was developing legislation to give the Justice Department stronger tools to fight counterfeit medicine sellers,…
David Luna, Director for Anticrime Programs in the State Department Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs opened the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Dialogue on Corruption and Illicit Trade: Combating Counterfeit Medicines and Strengthening Supply Chain Integrity on March 2, 2011 in Washington, DC. Mr. Luna framed the conference’s agenda for the day by…
Partnership for Safe Medicines Board of Directors’ member Thomas Kubic, President and CEO, Pharmaceutical Security Institute, today issued the following statement regarding last night’s 60 Minutes segment on counterfeit drug sellers. “The global epidemic of fake medicines is a serious public health threat, and consumers’ lack of awareness of it only adds to the danger.…
An Australian pharmaceutical company was broken into and robbed of almost 260 pounds of prescription medication on March 7, 2011. The Australian company, Jalco Group, was robbed of 110 pounds of pseudoephedrine and 150 pounds o opioid analgesic codeine estimated by the police to be worth be resold on the street for $43 milion, reports…
A proposal to increase the penalties for stealing medical products by bringing medical theft under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law has been brought before the Senate. Supported by Sens. Bill Nelson of Florida, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Charles Schumer of New York and Jay…
Successes from the use of artemisinin combination therapies have reduced malaria-related child mortality in half in parts of Africa. However counterfeit artemisinin drugs with lower than prophylactic dosages are creating resistance and turning the tide against the children of Africa. Karen Masterson reports for The Henry L. Stimson Center that malarial parasites “have neutralized the…
Buying medicine online has increased in popularity, but the risks of purchasing online are little understood by consumers. Purchasing from a rogue pharmacy, often indistinguishable from a legitimate one, can put your health and money in the hand of international scam artists that may send you pills that do nothing or make you sicker. Marketwatch’s…
The Partnership for Safe Medicines today commended Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) for introducing legislation to curb prescription drug theft
Pharmacy by 12th St David via Flickr. Robert Smoley, a 59 year-old Miami-Dade lawyer, pleaded guilty in federal court to selling millions of pharmaceutical drugs without prescriptions over the Internet on March 3, 2011. Smoley admitted that he distributed in excess of $48 million worth of medicine through the mail. Federal agents said after accepting…
Dr. Margaret Chan Director-General World Health Organizationby World Economic Forum via Flickr. On February 28, 2011, Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said that the World Health Organization does not conflate intellectual property issues with those of patient safety in their concerns for counterfeit medication proliferation. Opening the Work Group of Member…
Hungarian National Anti-Counterfeit Board (HENT) announced that starting March 1, 2011, a new law on counterfeit drugs will increase fines on unlicensed producers and traders to HUF 100,000. The purpose of the new law is to restrict unlawful profiteering and prevent fakes from entering the legitimate supply chain. The new law commissions officials to confiscate…
On February 25, 2011, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) announced that more than 8.5 million pills were intercepted at the border in 2010. Head of Border Force, Brodie Clark, said “This massive haul makes it clear just how seriously we take the smuggling of fake and unlicensed medicines. As well as stopping drugs, weapons and…
On March 4, 2011, a one-day forum on pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting measures will be held in Mumbai at the Lalit Hotel. Sponsored by FDASmart, a company that trains pharmaceutical manufacturers in regulation and research studies, representatives of various companies that provide anti-counterfeiting solutions for medicine as well as regulatory agents and medicine manufactures will present their…
8% of prescription drugs available in the United States are smuggled via online drug scams involving internet pharmacies that sell to Americans. Val Kennedy, pharmaceuticals reporter for the Wall Street Journal’s Marketwatch interviewed Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Bruce Foucart about the risks of online drug purchasing, and prescription drug smuggling…
The World Health Organization released a report on February 25, 2011 that identified substandard anti-malarial medications as one third of all in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania. The rate of failure was highest in Nigeria, with 2 out of three samples failing WHO quality tests, reports The Science and Development Network. Following close…
Washington, D.C. (February 25, 2011) – Partnership for Safe Medicines Board of Directors’ member Bryan A. Liang, MD, PhD, JD, with colleague Tim Mackey, MAS, published an article in this week’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) addressing the online direct to consumer (DTC) advertising market, and specifically how rogue online…
A University College London organic chemistry lecturer was convicted for creating and selling counterfeit medication in the United Kingdom. The Independent reports that chemist Christiaan Winkel, a Dutch national, imported a machine from China and chemicals to make £1.6 million worth of fake erectile dysfunction pills and also used the equipment to make fake Ecstacy.…
At New York’s Kennedy Airport, U.S. Customs and Border Protection flagged a cargo shipment from Hong Kong labeled “Farsan Sweet Dryfruit” for inspection on Thursday, February 17, 2011, and found approximately 20,000 pills inside. Fox News New York reported that officers examined the pills and identified them as counterfeit sildenafil, tadalfil and vardenafil. “The illicit…
Internal documents from ChronoPay, Russia’s largest processor of online payments, have shown that a Russian rogue pharmacy program called Rx-Promotion sold millions of controlled pills including Valium, Percocet, Tramadol and Oxycodone, in 2010 alone, mostly to Americans, without prescription requirements. Reporter Brian Krebs interviewed Pavel Vrublevsky in February 2011, the founder of ChronoPay, and also…
A new pharmaceutical spam campaign misappropriates Google branding to promote a “Google-accredited” online pharmacy portal. Symantec’s MessageLabs intelligence tracked spam email messages promoting online drug sales with a false claim that Google has hosted and approved the pharmacy sites. The link within the email directs to a spammer’s blog on a popular blogging portal,…
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has seen an increase in tainted products marketed as “all natural” or “100% herbal” that contain undeclared pharmaceutical ingredients that could potentially sicken consumers and counterfeit prescription medications that contain inappropriate ingredients or incorrect dosages.
In a news release, the CBP and FDA said that “counterfeiters have become more sophisticated in deceiving consumers. It can be difficult, if not impossible, to tell the real product from an imposter without sophisticated equipment. Counterfeit drugs may look exactly like real FDA-approved medicines, but their quality and safety are unknown. For example, counterfeit products could contain the wrong ingredients and/or varying amounts of the supposed active ingredient.”
Pharmaceutical spammers have been using image hosting services to promote their products and one service has responded by giving its patrons a strong warning. Reports Brian Krebs, Image Shack has replaced the rogue pharmacy images with warning signs, including universal symbols for caution, poison and health hazards. In addition, they’ve replaced the spammers’ catch phrases…
Testifying before the Croydon Crown Court in south London, Peter Gillespie, 64, admitted to aiding in the defrauding of pharmaceutical wholesalers, pharmacists and patients by selling counterfeit cancer drugs, heart disease medication and schizophrenia medication. However, Gillespie denies knowing the false origin of the medication supplied by a business associate he had known for 15…
A federal grand jury has indicted five more people for conspiring to commit extortion under the pretense of being U.S. Food & Drug Administration agents. The false FDA agents allegedly threatened Americans, who had purchased drugs from offshore online pharmacies, with incarceration to extort up to $100,000.
The USFDA announced on February 7th that Jose Miguel Mercado Garcia, 29, of the Dominican Republic, Zulai Morales, 25, of the Dominican Republic, Ramona Pichardo, 51, of New York, New York, Maria Curet, 33, of Providence, Rhode Island, and Milton Goris, 32, of Miami, Florida were indicted. Ramon Pichard was arrested on February 10th, while the remaining defendants are at large.
According to the one count indictment, beginning on December 1, 2007, people claiming to represent pharmaceutical distributors located in the Dominican Republic called and emailed US residents offering to sell pharmaceutical drugs. Purchasers of those pharmaceutical drugs from the Dominican Republic distributors were then instructed to pay via either a money wire service or by credit card.
The indictment alleges that after paying, customers would then receive telephone calls from purported United States FDA agents, who in fact were not FDA agents. The false FDA agents allegedly falsely stated that the customers’ orders from the Dominican Republic had been interdicted, and that the customers now owed fines.
U.S. Canadian Border in Blaine, WA scazon via Flickr. Two Canadians investigated by the United States Food and Drug Administration for selling counterfeit medications were sentenced on February 14th, 2011, after plea bargaining with investigators to avoid trial. Jim and Gregory James Armstrong, father and son, admitted they were smuggling counterfeit erectile dysfunction medication…
German companies are responding to the risk of counterfeit medicine distribution in Europe with the development of new technologies used to authenticate German products with seals and security codes. One manufacturer, Bionorica, is using three-dimensional, optically variable embossed marks created by a Munich company which specializes in printing bank notes. In order to use these…
A St. Louis, Missouri resident, Mark Hughes, 47, was sentenced to four years in prison by U.S. District Court on February 7th, 2011, four selling thousands of counterfeit erectile dysfunction pills. Hughes ordered counterfeit versions of ED drugs online from China and India, and sold them via an illegal and unlicsensed pharmacy and by…
A Providence, Rhode Island resident pleaded guilty on February 8th, 2011, of smuggling erectile dysfunction drugs from the People’s Republic of China falsely labeled as herbal dietary supplements. Anny L. Puello, 32, the owner of JMM LLC, admitted importing thousands of ED drugs that were shipped from a Chinese supplier, Chengdu Kang Quan Health Product Company…
A Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturer has begun supplying the country’s chemists and clinics with life saving medicines packaged with new security codes verifiable by text messaging. The new packaging contains a code revealed by scratching off a code on the medicine package. The consumer can verify the drugs authenticity by sending a text message of the…
In North America, there were 199 reported incidents of counterfeit medicines in 2009, greater than Africa, the Near East, and Eurasia.
As the World Health Organization and its partners are spending $175 million to block the spread of artemisinin-resistant malaria along the border of Cambodia and Thailand by providing free care, free medication, and a pervasive police force hunting down fake drugs military troops from both countries are exchanging gunfire
U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is providing five sub-Saharan African countries with technical aid to improve the public access to high quality, affordable medicines, announced the organization on February 8th, 2011. USP has launched a pilot Technical Assistance Program (TAP) to provide developing countries with capacity building in medicine quality evaluation. Participating countries will be provided…
Five companies have been issued patents for anti-counterfeiting technology ranging from packaging innovation to spectroscopy. Securing Pharma reports that Microsoft, AlpVision, Axsun, AuthentiForm, and CSEM have been issued patents for anti-counterfeiting medicine technologies. Microsoft has developed a method to create counterfeit resistant labels using unique images on labels that are not economically easy to duplicate,…
An online pharmacy operator, convicted in May 2009 for distributing approximately 44 million doses of prescription medication to consumers without valid prescriptions, has forfeited $12 million in profit. Approximately $2.67 million went to the local law enforcement agencies that prosecuted him, reports the Orlando Sentinel.
Jude LaCour and his father Jeffery LaCour, ran an online pharmacy under the corporation name, “Jive Network, Inc.” which distributed controlled substances and other prescription drugs to customers throughout the United States who did not have valid prescriptions, reported Network World.
LaCour, a Daytona Beach resident, was found guilty of 52 counts of money laundering and drug-trafficking offenses involving the sale of controlled substances over the internet.
Indian Customs Official seized 14,000 misoprostol tables from a Mumbai resident who arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport from Singapore on January 31, 2011. Officers apprehended the suspect, Yusuf Masalawala, 54, while evading customs by going through the “green channel,” which indicates no customs declaration. Customs officials said that no medicine conveyed without declaration is allowed…
The United States Attorney’s Office has indicted eleven Dominicans involved in a criminal conspiracy to threaten and extort money from American internet pharmacy customers by impersonating government agents. Investigators received over 1,000 complaints from American victims who paid imposters hundreds of thousands of dollars as so-called “fines” to prevent prosecution for purchasing drugs without a…
Sixty one patients who suffered complications due to the use of counterfeit cancer drugs, have been identified as plaintiffs in a Shanghai fake drug case, implicating 18 possible defendants. On February 2, 2011, the People’s Republic of China Shanghai Information Office announced that 116 patients, prescribed Avastin, a cancer drug also used to treat macular…
The Argentinian Federal Police’s Technical Criminal Investigation division conducted 11 raids in the ongoing counterfeit medicine mafia investigation, including a large raid at the Posadas Hospital, in the greater Buenos Aires district of Haedo. Six people were arrested. Among those arrested were a former policeman linked to trafficking in ephedrine, while all have been implicated…
On January 29, 2011, two Chinese nationals pled guilty to trafficking in over-the-counter weight-loss medications, including manufacture and distribution, in the United States, announced the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office (ICE), culminating a two year undercover investigation.
According to court documents, between December 2008 and March 2009, the FDA issued a series of alerts concerning tainted weight loss pills and counterfeit versions of the brand-name drug “Alli,” a popular over-the-counter weight-loss drug, indicating that these fake drugs were also being imported into the United States from China and that they did not contain the proper active pharmaceutical ingredient for the authentic product, but instead contained dangerous levels of Sibutramine. The counterfeit versions of Alli were being sold in the United States, among other ways, through internet websites, including online auction websites such as eBay. The FDA stated in these initial alerts that the items posed a very serious health risk to consumers, because, based on analysis, they were found to be drugs that contained undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients, including Sibutramine (a non-narcotic controlled substance), reports the ICE.
The World Health Organization’s international plea to contain artemisinin resistance is being heeded by Ghana’s government as it clamps down on fake malaria drug hawkers and increasing vigilance for first signs of the deadly disease. Dr. Felicia Owusu-Antwi, Country Advisor on Malaria for the WHO Ghana office said that while Ghana has no documented evidence…
A three year investigation into the international distribution of fake drugs led to the arrest of a 32 year old Chinese man residing in Wellington, NZ suspected of marketing counterfeit medicine using the internet. Auckland Metro Crime and Operations Support, a New Zealand police agency, announced they arrested the unnamed man and remanded him on…
Indian police in Patna have recovered 1,600 bottles of fake cough syrup from a parcel van in cross country transit.
A Philadelphia resident pleaded guilty to an 18 count indictment for the illegal importation and distribution of four million fake diet pills that contained unapproved drugs and carcinogens.
The Kurdistan Ministry of Health announced that they will ban medical clinics that sell “cheap and unregistered medicines,” reported Dr. Khalis Qadir Ahma, spokesman for the Ministry. In December 2010, the government confiscated counterfeit 20 products from several Kurdish companies based upon quality control testing. “We do not know where those counterfeits are coming from,…
Nigeria has reported a drop in counterfeit medicines from 40% to 5% as a result of a combined effort between local and international law enforcement, as well as increased surveillance and the use of new anti-counterfeiting technology.
View larger image A Chinese man living in New Zealand has been arrested following a three-year long police inquiry into the international distribution of counterfeit drugs. Who: Auckland Metro Crime and Operations Support (AMCOS) and various United States agencies, including the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), Homeland Security Investigations and the Food and Drug Administration’s…
The Indian Criminal Investigation Department has arrested owners of five pharmacies charged with commerce in spurious pain relievers
A Belgian citizen, Manuel Calvelo, has pleaded guilty to operating an internet pharmacy that sold $1.4 million worth of misbranded and counterfeit drugs as well as controlled substances in U.S. District Court in Kansas on January 21st, 2011, while a co-conspirator, Jeffrey Westmoreland of Canada, is fugitive. After extradition from Costa Rica, Calvelo was charged…
Bahawalpur police and health officials are investigating a local pharmacy that has been allegedly selling fake injections and fake antibiotics.
USAID raised the counterfeit drug alarm to Congress in a report including data on pervasive
fake anti-malarials and the success of medicine quality control assistance to 20 nations. USAID is
successfully fighting the impact of substandard medicines in developing countries through drug
authenticity training and technical assistance.
“Unfortunately, many developing countries lack the capacity to protect their citizens in this way, much less to protect them from unscrupulous drug manufacturers and vendors. What should be a matter of trust is more like a tragic game of chance with devastating odds,” said Dr. Maria A. Miralles, USAID’s
Senior Pharmaceutical Management Advisor.
To this end, USAID has also been supporting the development of a tool to enable regulatory authorities to evaluate their quality assurance systems in more than 20 nations, leading to recalls of substandard and counterfeit medicines and closure of illicit pharmacies.
In Beijing, the State Food and Drug Administration announced the impounding of 60 tons of fake medical equipment, and the ongoing investigation of seven cases of counterfeit drug production and sale.
The World Health Organization is screening all residents of 20 villages in northwest Cambodia where drug-resistant malaria has evolved in part due to the victims exposure to counterfeit anti-malarial medications.
Ho Chi Minh City police have arrested 14 people who are allegedly members of a fake medicine production ring that police have been following for over a year.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade announced new rules requiring medicine manufacturers to put barcodes on all products made for export in order to control for counterfeiting.
A U.S. web hosting provider admitted that hackers have invaded dozens of web pages
of government, educational and financial sites through a software flaw to promote online rogue
pharmacies.
Brian Krebs, an investigative journalist, reported that a customer of a Utah based web site host provider exploited a bug in a web site
administration tool used by a majority of hosting providers to ultimately
redirect visitors from these institutional websites to online stores selling prescription drugs without
prescription requirements.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has shut down numerous pharmacies selling fake drugs in Benue state.
A new study shows online rogue pharmacies using North American and Western European web hosting while fulfilling orders from other regions of the world.
Police questioned Kashmiri hospital employees after an infant allegedly died from an injection with expired medication.
A Northeast Florida pharmacist has been charged with the theft of 7,000 prescription painkiller pills from a Rite Aid drug store that are still missing.
Three people are suspected of stealing mail packages, some of which including medicine deliveries from Gwinnett County, Georgia homes.
Argentinian authorities are continuing their two year investigation into the fake drug syndicate that infiltrated the Argentinian workers’ unions.
Anti-counterfeiting specialists believe that medicine counterfeiting will increase in 2011. Pharma IQ conducted a survey in October 2000 of 1000 medicine anti-counterfeiting experts. More than 60% stated that the threat of fake drugs will increase in 2011. Experts are concerned about the rate of growth in emerging markets in Asia as well as internet sales…
Nigerian police intercepted a pharmacist storing fake medicines in plastic buckets, including ones that had not been legitimately produced in more than nine years.
Filipino lawmakers are seeking strong anti-counterfeiting legislation after a national report announced that one of every ten drugs is fake.
Law enforcement is investigating what appears to be theft and substitution of medicine mailed by a Veterans Administration pharmacy to a Petersburg, Virginia patient.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned the public that criminals are posing as law enforcement agents to extort money from people who purchased medication online.
Criminals are calling victims and identifying themselves as FDA or other law enforcement officials. The imposters inform the victims that purchasing drugs over the Internet or the telephone is illegal and that they will be prosecuted for this crime unless they pay a fine ranging from $100 to $250,000.
In addition, victims also have suffered from unauthorized purchases on their credit cards.
In October, spam began to decline worldwide, according to experts that follow spam, after the closure of Spamit, a Russian affiliate program that paid spammers to promote “Canadian Pharmacy” brand rogue pharmacies.
Following Gujarat’s example, the Maharashta Food and Drug Administration (Maha FDA) launched an online licensing process for retail pharmacists, the first of its kind in the state.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate announced that in April 2012 that the sales of veterinary medicines over the internet will be more tightly controlled in Britain.
Dr. Paul Orhii, Director General of the Food and Drug Administration and Control for Nigeria, (NAFDAC), described 2010 as “very remarkable and busy” in the fight against fake drugs.
Nigerian police have arrested two men for stealing money and medicine from a pharmaceutical company in Lagos. The two men allegedly broke into Remson Investment Nigeria Limited in Lagos and stole N470,500 in cash and approximately N600,000 (US$4,000) in pharmaceutical products. The police have arrested Bishop Godsent, 34, as the recipient of the stolen drugs…
Bangkok police are focusing on deadly counterfeit items, like fake drugs, in 2011.
This is a reprint of the FDA Alert. December 30, 2010 – The Ritedose Corporation is conducting a voluntary recall of 0.083% Albuterol Sulfate Inhalation Solution, 3 mL (in 25, 30, and 60 unit dose vials). This product is a prescription inhalation solution, administered via nebulization, for the treatment and maintenance of acute asthma exacerbations…
This is a reprint of the FDA alert. PRock Marketing, LLC located in Central Florida an authorized US distributor of the Authentic Formula Fruta Planta has been informed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the weight loss dietary supplements sold and marketed contains an undeclared drug ingredient. The FDA lab analysist of the…
The Madras High Court upheld the detention of 13 people allegedly involved in selling spurious drugs, some fake and some expired, under the Goondas Act. In Chennai, India, the Madras High Court, one of the three high courts of India, justices heard a petition from 13 defendants accused of re-selling expired medicines. The Goondas Act…
Armed robbers who stole three delivery trucks filled with pharmaceuticals were thwarted by tracking devices embedded within the cargo.
Moroccan health officials are working with the fraud prevention departments within the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Internal Affairs to increase drug store inspections. The Health Minister, Yasmina Baddou, told parliament on November 24th that the inter-ministry cooperation will try to stop drugs being sold outside the legal market and to raise public awareness…
The Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department has promised to crack down on fake drug sellers and publicly publish the name of pharmacies and retails who are caught with them. Thomas Lin Shun-yin, head of investigations for the Department of Intellectual Property said that while the number of raw number of fake drugs seized in…
On December 23, 2010, officials from the Nigerian National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) closed down a pharmacy in Abeokuta, the largest city and capital of Ogun State in southwest Nigeria, after identifying counterfeit medicines with a handheld machine. During an unannounced and random check on pharmacies and medicine stores…
Mobile phone based anti-counterfeiting technology initiatives have been announced in Ghana, Nigeria and India.
The Cambodian Ministry of Health reported a 92% decrease in the number of illegal pharmacies nationwide and a 71% fewer unlicensed health clinics over the past year, on December 22, 2010.
The European Union ambassadors approved an agreement to regulate medicines sold over the internet. The agreement will create regulation intended to protect legal suppliers of medicine.
These alerts are reprinted from the FDA. RockHard Weekend, Pandora: Recall – Undeclared Drug Ingredient ISSUE: FDA notified the public that testing determined that certain lots of thesde products contain an analogue of sildenafil, an FDA-approved drug used as treatment for male Erectile Dysfunction (ED). The active drug ingredient is not listed on the label…
This is a reprint of the FDA alert. December 22, 2010 – Pfizer has announced that it intends to recall one lot—approximately 19,000 bottles—of Lipitor 40 mg tablets (atorvastatin calcium) distributed in the U.S. The recall stems from one customer report of an uncharacteristic odor related to the bottles in which these lots of Lipitor…
Kenyan Ministry of Medical Services has impounded two shipments of fake drugs destined for Nairobi that had been transported from Dubai into Eldoret International Airport.
1.2 million vials of substandard drugs have been impounded in Tanzania by the Food and Drug Authority (TFDA).