In an effort to raise public awareness about the dangers of medicines purchased through fake pharmacies online, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) today issued a rare “public health alert.”

A new study by NABP found that 96 percent of 8,000 rogue websites analyzed continue to operate out of compliance with U.S. pharmacy laws, fuel prescription drug abuse, and provide an outlet for counterfeit medicines to enter the U.S. drug supply – all of which significantly endanger the health and safety of Americans. Most of these sites will sell without a valid prescription and 3,687 offer non-FDA-approved drugs. They could be selling dangerous counterfeit medicines that may contain toxic ingredients or not enough of the active ingredient to do what the medicine is supposed to do.

In the announcement of the alert, NABP warned, “The fake online pharmacy crisis has reached an epidemic level, they prey on prescription drug abusers and the most vulnerable members of society who rely on medicine every day for their health. They offer easy access to potent medicines without a prescription and indiscriminately push dangerous counterfeit drugs.

Did you know that some ingredients found in counterfeit medicines include arsenic, floor polish, nickel, and other potentially harmful elements? They are made to look real, but often are not anything like the real medicine. Learn more by clicking here. Do we really want these counterfeit meds crossing our borders and infecting our drug supply?…

Presidential candidate Barack Obama recently announced a plan to give $6 billion a year in tax credits to small businesses to encourage them to provide health insurance to employees. According to Reuters, Obama would pay for this by “making so-called ‘biologic’ drugs easier to bring to market in generic form.” Read the original article

A European Union annual report found customs officials last year seized more than 100 million pieces of fake goods, including counterfeit medicines, that had a street value of over $1.4 billion, much of it purchased on the internet.

A steamroller crushing thousands of boxes of prescription medicines. Why? Despite looking very real, these drugs are counterfeit and dangerous. Globally, the threat of fake medicine is very real.

In an interview with Winifred Ogbedo in magazine Leadership, Dr. Orhii, the director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), discussed the strides he’s been able to make to improve the safety of medication available to Nigerians, and the biggest obstacles to overcome, notably the development of domestically controlled medicine manufacturing.

Dr. Orhii is seeking to develop a domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing business because he says, “it’s a national security issue,” with 70% of essential medications imported from out of country.