The two men acted as U.S. distributors for a series of Thailand-based fake online pharmacy websites that sold imported and non-FDA approved medication to U.S. consumers. Troy Tapia and Anthony Rouse III of Louisiana have each been sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty to fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering,…
Read MoreIn 2016 alone, over 1,400 practitioners were warned by the FDA that their supplier was selling unapproved so-called “Botox.” With more than 2,400 professionals warned in the past 5 years, the expansion of use for this medication provides new markets for counterfeiters selling fake and misbranded drugs. Botulinum neurotoxin, or Botox as it is known,…
Read MoreJanuary 5, 2017 Dear Senators and Representatives, In December of 2015 we released the attached letter warning Congress of the dangers to American patients from counterfeit drugs brought into America through “importation” proposals. As you consider the budget this year, we wanted to bring to your attention several recent tragic events that show the negative…
Read MoreDefendants allegedly purchased expired or close-to-expired gastric lap-band surgery kits on the Internet, disguised them as new, and then re-sold them to local physicians. Florida residents Peter Kakfa and Gregory Grimm are being accused of running an expired/misbranded gastric bypass banding system scam via their employer Apollo Endosurgery, the Department of Justice (DOJ) reports. According…
Read MoreAuthorities in San Juan are making a public appeal to find more victims of “Rosa from Venezuela.” A federal court in San Juan, Puerto Rico has brought charges of injecting adulterated products into at least 2 different women against Rosa Betancourt-Farfán, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports. Betancourt-Farfán is alleged to have posed as…
Read MorePair that were arrested in London in October 2012 for operating a fake online pharmacy that sold to U.S. consumers plead guilty and are sentenced. Pakistani fake online pharmacy entrepreneurs Sheikh Waseem Ul Haq and Tahir Saeed have been sentenced to time served after pleading guilty to 48 counts, including “conspiracy to import Schedule II,…
Read MoreDr. Magdy Elsawy has admitted to no wrongdoing in his settlement, however it was originally alleged he provided non-FDA approved cancer medications to his patients, defrauded Medicare, and provided treatments to patients that were more complex than needed or entirely medically unneeded. North Iowa Today is reporting that the owner and lead physician at Hematology…
Read MoreDr. Diana Anda Norbergs was convicted by a Federal Grand Jury on 45 counts related to her multi-year practice of treating her oncology patients with imported, non-FDA approved cancer medications, and then billing Medicare, public, and private insurers for the full cost of the genuine treatments. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is reporting that…
Read MoreCalifornia nurse who provided Botox treatments to the stars of Real Housewives of Orange County has pleaded guilty to charges she treated her patients with non-FDA approved Botox. Her original supplier of the misbranded Botox was SB Medical, an illicit Canadian medication importer that paid $75 million in fines and Penalties in 2015 for illegally…
Read MoreIndicted in absentia in 2012, Junaid Qadir, part owner of a clandestine medication importer based in Pakistan has finally been forced to face U.S. justice. Junaid Qadir, a principal in a family-owned pharmaceutical business in Karachi, Pakistan, has been sentenced to 2 years in prison for his role in the illegal importation and sale of…
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