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 Goethe-Institut and Pedigree last week Thursday, 17th of April, 2008 launched a short film to kickstart a campaign, against the circulation of fake drugs on the Ghanaian market. The event, held at the inner court of the Goethe-Institut premises at Cantonments, attracted practitioners from the media, diplomats, representatives of civil society, notably the Christian…
A EURO MP has welcomed moves to protect people from a multi-billion pound counterfeit drugs industry which is feared to kill half a million people each year. Criminals are plying people suffering from cancer and heart disease as well as psychiatric illnesses with fake medicine which is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. 18 April…
The heparin fallout continues. As an update to our March 13 post, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now reports 62, not 19, suspicious deaths in the United States linked to the blood thinner heparin, most of which occurred in December, January and February. According to an article in the New York Times, investigations continue into whether the deaths were caused by the Chinese contaminant.
The Partnership for Safe Medicines urges you to watch the groundbreaking film, Illicit: The Dark Trade, premiering nationwide tonight on PBS. Based on the best-selling book by Dr. Moiss Nam, Illicit exposes the staggering impact counterfeiting and piracy has on the world economy, jobs, and consumer health and safety.
Bryan A. Liang, MD, PhD, JD
According to some sources, there are at least 1,000 Web sites selling prescription drugs. Of course, not all of which are legitimate. Considering the sheer number of hits an Internet search for "online pharmacy" returns, it's not surprising that the U.S. Senate has put the Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2007 on its legislative calendar.
Healthcare spending and prices are on the rise—again. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that overall healthcare spending in America will reach $4.3 trillion annually by 2017. Given that healthcare costs are increasing at nearly three times the rate of inflation, it's no wonder Americans are seeking ways to keep their healthcare costs low.
It looks as though the problems from China-sourced heparin are far from over. An unknown substance, similar in chemical makeup to heparin, has been found in batches of the blood thinner produced by U.S.-based Baxter International and Germany-based Rotexmedica.
It's an interesting phenomenon. We have general agreement that fake medicines put people in harms way – but an increasing number of these drugs are entering the world's markets. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that up to 10 percent of all medicines are counterfeits, rising to 25 percent in some countries.
Police personnel at Motema police station yesterday arrested a driver with four cartons of assorted pharmaceutical drugs at Mambodu junction in Kono district. Mustapha Kamara and his vehicle with registration number ADA 262 was stopped by the police for searching when the drugs were discovered. Kamara was being led to the station when a passenger…
Dakar, Senegal – The United Nations and its member states are failing to address serious threats to life and health posed by the promotion of unproven AIDS 'cures' and by counterfeit antiretroviral drugs," a global rights body, Human Rights Watch, stated in a recently released dossier. In the dossier, titled "Dangerous medicines: Unproven AIDS cures…
The evil of fake drugs have been described as worse than the combined scourge of malaria, HIV/AIDS and armed robbery put together because they can be prevented or they kill few at a time but fake drugs kill en mass. Secretary of the FCT Task Force on Counterfeit and Fake Drugs, Hajia Hauwa Kulu Ibrahim,…
Today the House Appropriation's Committee's Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies held a hearing on drug safety. You can view the Partnership for Safe Medicines' thoughts on the matter here.
In its determination to eradicate the sale of fake drugs in the country, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Taskforce on Counterfeit and Fake Drugs (TFC&FD) has called on the public to desist from buying drugs from unregistered pharmacists stressing that "fake drugs are more vicious than the scourge of malaria and HIV/AIDS." Making the call…
One in five pharmaceutical drugs bought in Ouagadougou is counterfeit and sold on the street with no prescription and no expiry date, according to the Ministry of Health. Despite laws banning the practice, the government has lost control of the industry and the unregulated drug market continues to expand, with damaging health consequences, fear doctors…
Kenyans have been listed among African consumers at highest risk of exposure to counterfeit drugs. Findings of a recent study on the drugs market presented at the ongoing pan-African conference in South Africa indicates that many African governments lack the necessary mechanisms to curb the sale of counterfeit medicines. "The responsibility of combating counterfeits should…
An international conference to discuss counterfeit medicines in Africa, started this week in Johannesburg. The aim of the conference, which is sponsored by Pfizer, is for representatives from sub-Saharan countries to discuss threats that counterfeit medicines and unregistered generics pose for the safety of patients in this region and to develop joint plans of action…
UN health and crime agencies say counterfeit drugs are killing people from China to Canada and they "promote the development of new strains of viruses, parasites and bacteria … for example in the case of malaria or HIV." And in many countries their manufacture and distribution is not even illegal. The United Nations Inter-regional Crime…
The ongoing New York Times series "A Toxic Pipeline" continues to shed light on the complex routes that counterfeit drugs take before being sold by Internet pharmacies, many of which purport legitimacy with Canadian, British or Australian websites.
In February 2006, the World Health Organization launched the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT) to build coordinated efforts between countries to address the great deal of harm from fake medicines around the globe.
Recognizing the growing threat of the availability of counterfeit drugs worldwide, the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Products Agency (MHRA) – Britain's version of the FDA – last week published its first Anti-Counterfeiting Strategy. The strategy sets out the MHRA's approach to combating this threat for the next three years, including the launch of a new 24-hour hotline for reporting suspected counterfeit medicines and devices.
In recent weeks, we've heard about a faked FEMA news conference and planted questions on the presidential campaign trail, but a report out of China about a fake government website takes the cake. A story from Reuters earlier this month reports that sellers of counterfeit drugs have gone as far as setting up a fake…
A recent newspaper headline caught my eye. It said that in some poor countries a staggering 60 percent of medicines are fake. Thankfully, the World Health Organization, now led by our own very able Mrs Margaret Chan (she was previously Hong Kong’s Director of Health), is trying hard to control the scandalous trade in counterfeit…
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 24, 2007) — The Partnership for Safe Medicines commends yesterday's announcement by the U.S. Trade Representative of a new six-country Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The purpose of ACTA is to step up enforcement efforts against international counterfeiters.
HYDERABAD: The Drugs Control Administration (DCA) has seized Rs 5.36 crore worth of spurious, sub-standard and illegal drugs from godowns and industrial units in the state in the last few weeks. Ironically, Rs 4.80 crore worth of drugs were manufactured without a valid licence. “A special drive was taken up by the DCA from February…
China’s resolve to clean up corruption in its pharma industry has intensified as the former assistant to the already-condemned-to-death former drug chief has now been charged. Cao Wenzhuan has become the third former State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) official to be charged since this corruption scandal first broke last year. By Kirsty Barnes 25…
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…
Agents with the State Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration on Tuesday raided two area pharmacies suspected of dispensing drugs based on illegal prescriptions obtained over the Internet. Woody Pharmacy in Mooresville and Woody Pharmacy-Waterside in Denver were closed by the N.C. Board of Pharmacy, and licenses of four pharmacists were suspended. KAREN GARLOCH24…
NUTLEY, N.J., May 8 (UPI) — Roche on Monday released guidelines to help consumers avoid fake Tamiflu, the anti-viral effective against bird flu. Among its anti-counterfeit pointers –which can be found at www.tamiflu.com– the Swiss firm said people should be particularly careful when purchasing the treatment on the Internet, be wary of drugs offered for sale without a prescription…
Pharmacy Expert Says Internet is Key to Fighting Counterfeiters Worldwide
Washington, D.C. (March 7, 2006) � The Partnership for Safe Medicines, a coalition of patient, physician, pharmacist, university, industry and professional organizations, today announced that its SafeMeds Alert System has become a part of the Food and Drug Administration�s (FDA) Counterfeit Alert Network.
