Fake pills are ravaging communities across the U.S.
Bag of Counterfeit Fentanyl Pills Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of California
What began in 2015 as an outbreak of counterfeit opioid painkillers and Xanax that contained potentially deadly doses of fentanyl or fentanyl analogues has spread to all 50 states, and has killed residents in 42 of them.
Illegal pill presses have given drug counterfeiters the ability to adapt. In 2020, they expanded their offerings with pills mimicking Adderall, Aleve, aspirin and even the diabetes drug metformin, and new, dangerous ingredients such as methamphetamine, isotonitazene, clonazolam and etizolam.
Mexican drug cartels smuggle millions of these pills over the border, but the U.S. also has homegrown traffickers who import ingredients and pill presses from China and manufacture their own deadly pills.
PSM Resources about the Counterfeit Pill Crisis
Reports and Infographics
Deadly Counterfeit Pills Found in All 50 U.S. States; Deaths Now Reported in 42 of Them (October 2020)
Do You Know What a Pill Press Is? (August 2019)
Illegal Pill Presses: An Overlooked Threat to American Patients (with NABP and NADDI, March 2019) and April 2021 update (with NADDI)
Fentanyl 101: An Introduction to the Fentanyl Crisis in the U.S. (August 2018)
43 States And Counting: The Deadly Combination Of Imported Fentanyl And Counterfeit Medicines (April 2018)
Real Victims of Counterfeit Medicine (Ongoing profiles of American counterfeit drug victims, including those poisoned by counterfeit pills.)
Videos: Watch our most recent video about counterfeit pills and subscribe to our YouTube playlist to catch all our updates.
Reports
Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts, Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics, 2021
Drug Enforcement Administration:
- National Drug Threat Assessments: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016
- DEA Issues Warning Over Counterfeit [Adderall] Pills, August 2019
- Drugs Of Abuse: A DEA Resource Guide 2017 Edition
- Fentanyl: A Brief Guide For First Responders, June 2017
- Counterfeit Prescription Pills Containing Fentanyls: A Global Threat, July 2016
Combatting the Opioid Crisis: Exploiting Vulnerabilities in International Mail (United States Senate, January 2018)
Report On The Potential Impact Of Drug Importation Proposals On U.S. Law Enforcement (Freeh, Sporkin, and Sullivan LLC, Freeh Group International Solution, LLC, June 2017)
Counterfeit Alprazolam Poses A 'Major Public Health Threat' (Medscape, August 8, 2016)
“Fentanyl And A Novel Synthetic Opioid U-47700 Masquerading As Street ‘Norco’ In Central California: A Case Report” (Annals of Emergency Medicine, July 26, 2016)