PSM provided our thoughts to the US Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee when they requested input on the authorization of the Pandemic All Hazards Preparedness Act.
The DEA warned about a sharp increase in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with xylazine. The U.S. FDA warned to a supplement manufacturer and a website selling ivermectin to stop selling unapproved drugs. A Montana man who hid his pill press operation under a haystack has been sentenced to 16 years in prison. More news in 15 U.S. states.
The “Cooper Davis Act” would require social media platforms to report users of social media found to be selling controlled substances on their platforms to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
H.B. 25 would require Texas’ Health and Human Services Commission to design a program for bulk importing prescription medicines under 21 USC 384 of the U.S. Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act, more commonly known as a Section 804 State Importation Program (SIP). Below, we outline the many reasons this proposal is unsafe and unworkable.
Federal legislators reintroduced the CAST Act, which would strengthen penalties for using pill presses to make fake medicines. Health Canada warned parents not to buy unapproved cough syrups advertised on Facebook. Mexican soldiers seized almost two million fentanyl pills in Tijuana. News about prosecutions, pill seizures and deaths in 21 U.S. states.
This recall has been initiated because the Product is labeled as a dietary supplement that, in the opinion of the government, makes unsubstantiated health claims that the product will prevent, treat, or cure COVID-19.
A company is facing charges for medical device fraud. Mexican regulators shut down pharmacies for selling fake prescription pills made with fentanyl, something that has been happening since at least 2019. International news about contaminated cough syrup, and about prosecutions involving counterfeit pills and fake pill seizures in 20 U.S. states.
On Tuesday, February 28, 2023, the Partnership for Safe Medicines convened pharmacists, law enforcement, policy experts and family advocates to educate legislators about key issues in the fight against counterfeit medicines. Learn more and watch the briefing here.
PSM’s executive director spoke at Senator Rick Scott’s roundtable. The US FDA acted to restrict the illicit shipment of xylazine. Investigators have traced the deaths of 84 children in Gambia and Uzbekistan to counterfeit cough syrup. 57 people in three states were charged with selling fentanyl pills and other drugs and a doctor was sentenced for faking a stem cell treatment. Additional news about fake pills in 30 states.
Executive Director Shabbir Safdar urged Congress to demand accountability from social media platforms at Senator Scott’s roundtable discussion about the fentanyl crisis.