China Increases Penalty for Drug Fakers

April 7, 2011

The People’s Republic of China has removed a maximum sentencing requirement of three years imprisonment for convicted medicine counterfeiters. The change in Article 141 of the Criminal Law has removed the upper limit for jail terms. Additionally, the new law removes the test of demonstrable harm, in other words, the counterfeiters can be prosecuted for…

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The Community Must Stand Up to Protect Victims of Fake Drugs

April 5, 2011

Sri Lankan stakeholders gathered in Kandy on April 4th to educate pharmacists “to protect Sri Lankan families from counterfeit drugs” at the Sri Lanka Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industry conference (SLCPI). Promoted also by the US Embassy, American Chamber of Commercial and the National Intellectual Property Organization, the seminar was attended by Health Ministry and Drug…

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Fake Contraceptive Medicine Impacts Uganda

April 5, 2011

The Ugandan National Drug Authority issued a public alert on April 3rd, 2011, that counterfeit contraceptives are on sale in country. Frederick Ssekyana, the Drug Authority’s public relations officer, warned consumers to look carefully at the security features on the pills, reports the Ugandan news source, New Vision. The back side of the pill package…

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New Technology to Fight Counterfeiting: Data Collection and Sharing

April 5, 2011

A new database of medicines will provide African, South American and Southeast Asian governments with technological data to use in identifying fake medicine. The Promoting the Quality of Medicines (PQM) program developed by USAID and the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) has launched a new public database of drugs collected and analyzed in collaboration with government…

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US Fake Medicine Cases Increased Year Over Year

April 1, 2011

The FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations reported that 72 cases had been opened up in 2010, 11% more than the year before, and at 3-5 times what was reported a decade ago. Reports Pharmaceutical Commerce, Deputy Administrator Dr. Ilisa Bernstein cited those figures during a presentation for the Pew Prescription Project in Washington, DC in…

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X-Hero and Male Enhancer: Recall – Undeclared Drug Ingredient

March 30, 2011

This is a reprint of the FDA alert. ISSUE: FDA lab analysis of X-Hero found the product contains sulfosildenafil, the analogue of the active ingredient of an FDA-approved drug used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED), making X-Hero an unapproved drug. In addition, FDA analysis of Male Enhancer sample found the product contains tadalafil, the active…

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20 Tons of Fake Antibiotics, Analgesics and Other Medicines Collected in Peru

March 30, 2011

Peruvian officials have confiscated 20 tons of fake medication since 2007. 30% of the fakes confiscated were counterfeit antibiotics and another 30% fraudulent analgesics. Peru’s General Agency for Medicine and Drugs (Digemid) reported that antibiotics, analgesics and anti-inflammatories are the most fake medications in Peru, reported Living In Peru. “What is most often faked are…

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Drug Dealers Moving into Counterfeit Medications in US Suburbs

March 30, 2011

In three separate suburban communities, people were arrested this week for possession of counterfeit drugs in the Washington, DC area and in Ohio suburbs. In Findlay, Ohio, Matthew Snodgrass, 23, faces charges of trafficking in drugs and counterfeit controlled substances, reports WFIN. Snodgrass is accused of selling ecstacy and a fake medication within 100 feet…

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Medicine Cargo Drivers Vanished with Cargo in Russia

March 28, 2011

Two men, driving two separate cargo trucks of medication disappeared on March 13th in Russia, as did their trucks and the cargo within them, after crossing the Russian border from Finland. The two men, aged 60 and 25, disappeared on March 13. Subsequently, the two trucks they were driving were found without license plates, empty…

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PSM Board Members Speak at 7th Annual San Diego Health Policy Conference, “Public-Private Partnerships in Global Health”

March 28, 2011

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.

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