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.
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a consumer alert warning patients that two Baltimore pharmacies may have received either expired or possibly counterfeit drugs. Earlier this year, New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo initiated legal action against CVS and Rite Aid pharmacies after a statewide investigation found it had sold expired products, including over-the-counter medications.
Botox treatment is one of the fastest-growing cosmetic procedures on the market today. With the promise to eliminate wrinkles and fine lines, more and more baby boomers are turning to this product to fight the signs of aging. However, in addition to battling wrinkles, the makers of Botox now find themselves fighting the illicit business of counterfeit drugs.
Earlier this week, I talked about India's opposition to IMPACT's proposed definition of a counterfeit medicine. Indian "experts" claimed it would hurt their generic drug industry's exports, and I asked just who these "experts" were protecting if the IMPACT's focus was only non-legitimate producers.
Often understanding a problem begins with a definition. The World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), meets each May to discuss public health issues and determine future WHO policies. This year, WHO's constituted International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT) introduced a resolution to update WHO's definition of a counterfeit medicine. IMPACT proposed changing the definition from "deliberately and fraudulently" mislabeling a medicine's identity and source to the "false representation" of a medical product's identity, history or source.
Ryan Haight. Marcia Bergeron. They paid with their wallets for diverted and counterfeit drugs. They also paid with their lives.
MANILA, Philippines — Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) seized hundreds of counterfeit anti-hypertension and pain-relieving medicine in raids conducted in Manila and Caloocan City recently. Raided were Acebedo General Hospital on General Luis Street, Bagbaguin, Caloocan City, and Longlife Pharmaceutical Inc. on Benavidez Street, Binondo, Manila. By Tina G. Santos 12 July…
Earlier this month, the Los Angels Times published a story that explored the extremely profitable relationship between spammers and drug counterfeiters. For some time now, spammers have made money by sending countless emails to the public and then charging the credit cards of those who responded for products which never existed. In some case, the spammers sold that credit card information to other criminals.
On a daily basis, many individuals unknowingly risk death or serious injury to their health by taking counterfeit drugs. As executive director of the Pharmaceutical Security Institute (PSI), I see first-hand how counterfeiters thrive in countries where the anti-counterfeiting laws are weak; the drug regulatory agencies are underfunded and understaffed; and legal sanctions are ineffective.
If Congress and the FDA truly want to avoid another deadly incident of failed drug safety, our policy makers must take this opportunity to address the other vulnerabilities threatening the safety of our prescription drugs. The Partnership for Safe Medicines has developed three core principles to support quality assurance programs and establish a drug distribution…