Protect Yourself From Counterfeit Drugs

October 30, 2008

Thomas T. Kubic

Counterfeit drugs are a rampant threat that easily cross boarders and target innocent people.  You can learn about this threat by visiting the Pharmaceutical Security Institute.  But how can you protect yourself from contaminated or counterfeit drugs finding their way into your medicine cabinet? 

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Congress Joins the Battle Against Counterfeit Drugs

October 27, 2008

Signed into law last week, the PRO-IP Act is the most comprehensive IP enforcement legislation adopted by Congress in years. Not only does it increase the penalties for counterfeiting offenses that endanger public health and safety, it provides much-needed resources to at federal, state and local law enforcement levels. Additionally, the law creates the position…

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Counterfeit Drugs and Baby Formula

October 2, 2008

Marv Shepherd, PhD

Four infants are dead and more than 54,000 children in China have suffered from kidney stones and kidney failure this past year as a result of baby formula and powdered milk tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical used to make plastics, glue and is found in pesticides.  The toxin found its way into the milk products from more than 30 Chinese companies because of its ability to make the milk appear high in protein. 

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Politics and Counterfeit Drugs

September 25, 2008

Currently, the United States has one of the safest drug supplies in the world because its pharmaceutical supply system is “closed” to importation. Once a drug is outside the strictly regulated distribution channel, there is no guarantee of its authenticity, effectiveness, or safety. We know from the recent incident in China of the deliberately contaminated…

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Ghana: Country Moves to Ensure Safe Medicine

September 12, 2008

Ghanaians have been urged to exercise their civic responsibility by buying drugs at the right places to avoid more deadly incidents by traders in counterfeit products. The World Health Organisation (WHO), estimates that more than 30% of drugs could lead to the horrid healthcare crises that fake drugs often unleash. The rate of fake drugs…

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International Efforts to Combat Counterfeit Drugs

September 11, 2008

The counterfeit drugs are a global dilemma touching all countries, including the United States.  However, in some areas of Africa, up to 30 percent of the medicines for sale are counterfeit drugs.  

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FDB to stop increasing counterfeiting of medicines

September 10, 2008

The Food and Drugs Board, FDB, is considering the introduction of a new technology that will detect fake drug products from genuine ones. The technology will indicate codes on the products which will be verified later from the manufacturers. The Acting Deputy Chief Executive of the Board, Rev. Jonathan Martey, announced this in Accra at…

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Consumer Protection Group Supports West African Anti-Counterfeit Drug Efforts

September 9, 2008

Partnership for Safe Medicines shares expertise with leaders to combat contraband and counterfeit drugs.

ACCRA, Ghana (Sept. 9, 2008) – To combat the increasing amounts of contraband and counterfeit drugs threatening public health, West African government officials, business leaders, and non-profit organizations gathered today for the Stakeholder Forum on Safe Medicines in Accra, Ghana.  The Partnership for Safe Medicines, a coalition of organizations and individuals dedicated to protecting consumers from counterfeit medicines, helped lead a discussion about how the region can work together to address this important health problem.

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Stopping Counterfeit Drugs at the Source

August 28, 2008

Bryan A. Liang, MD, PhD, JD

Here at the Partnership for Safe Medicines, one of our core principles for drug safety is the need to unify in the fight against counterfeit drugs.  This week, we saw progress.

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The Warning Signs of Illegal Online Pharmacies

August 22, 2008

Bryan A. Liang, MD, PhD, JD

Why buy from a store when you can shop on the Internet?  Unfortunately, there are numerous illegal Web sites that will sell you contaminated or counterfeit drugs, unapproved products, the wrong product, or simply take your money and never deliver anything in return.

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