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View larger map On May 25, 2013, France’s Ministry of Economy announced the largest seizure of counterfeit medication ever made by France and the European Union. French customs agents in Le Havre discovered 1.2 million doses of counterfeit aspirin hidden in a shipment of tea originating from China. The goods in the shipment were destined for a Spanish company located…
Read MoreTrack and Trace Legislation Resource Page Learn more about H.R. 3024: RXTrace on the DQSA Securing Industry on pharmaceuticals FDA on the Drug Supply Chain Security Act and Standards Development for Prescription Drug Supply Chain Security FiercePharma Manufacturing on track and trace H.R. 3204, The Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA) was signed by President Obama on November 27, 2013.…
Read MoreThe US Department of Justice reports that a plea agreement by the US branch of Indian generic drug giant Ranbaxy is the largest ever against a generic drug manufacture. Ranbaxy admitted to selling unapproved and adulterated prescription drugs in the United States.
According to the Department of Justice statement on this case, the drugs manufactured at two different plants in India, one in Dewas, and another in Paonta Sahib. The manufacturers failed to follow Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) as mandated by the FDA. In many cases the drugs were not up to FDA standards and degraded much faster than their authentic counterparts. The Department of Justice also reports that Ranbaxy knowingly made false statements to the FDA as to the testing, content and quality of the drugs it sold in the United States.
Read MoreMay 28 2013 is World Anti-Counterfeiting
Day. The
Global Anti Counterfeiting Network has announced Interpol and the Malaysia Health Service as the winners of their 15th
Annual Global Anti Counterfeiting Awards. While
not an event traditionally widely observed, this day gives us a chance to try and highlight our work to protect
patients from counterfeit drugs. If
you’re reading this, you probably care about protecting patients, but you
haven’t done anything to prepare for the event. The Partnership for Safe Medicines has made
it easy for you to highlight patient safety on this day, by giving you easy
resources for writing tweets, posting to Facebook, sending email, or writing a
letter to the editor on this day.
If you’re planning to help, please send us a note and we’ll keep an eye out for your messages!
Quick links:
- Campaign homepage: http://www.safemedicines.org/patient-and-doctor-tips-shareable-content.html
- TIPS for American patients: http://www.safemedicines.org/drug-safety-tips-for-patients.html
- TIPS for American physicians: http://www.safemedicines.org/drug-safety-tips-for-doctors.html
What we have planned
We are launching our patient and physician TIPS campaign on
World Anti-Counterfeiting Day. The
campaign includes 25+ tips on how patients can avoid counterfeit drugs, and
physicians can avoid unauthorized distributors selling counterfeit drugs. The tips have short versions that can fit in
a tweet or Facebook message, or longer versions that can fit in an email or
print newsletter. Each one contains an
original illustration like this one:
Ways you can help
Post a tip to Facebook or Twitter.
Post a note of support for the campaign recognizing PSM’s efforts on Twitter.
Send a tip to your mailing list, with links to more.
Post a blog post on your website.
Post a link to our campaign on your website, either in text or with one of
the tips graphics.
Write an op-ed.
Read MoreA pharmacist in Tennessee named Robert Harshbarger has pleaded guilty to charges he replaced FDA-approved iron sucrose for use in kidney dialysis with unapproved foreign versions of the drug which he then sold to kidney dialysis clinics, including Kansas Dialysis Services. Several patients at Kidney Dialysis Services were treated with the misbranded drugs, but none reported side effects. The iron…
Read MoreDear Speaker Boehner and Chairman Upton:
On behalf of the Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM), we write today in strong support of H.R.
1919, the “Safeguarding America’s Pharmaceuticals Act”.
PSM is a not for profit, consumer focused organization that seeks to
keep Americans safe from counterfeit drugs through patient and healthcare
provider education and awareness. In
the US we work with a coalition of over 70 healthcare professional and patient
groups to improve patients’ and their
healthcare providers’ knowledge about where they obtain their medication, how
they can save money safely, and how to safely identify licensed pharmaceutical
distributors.
PSM strongly supports the creation of a national uniform track and trace
or pedigree system that would allow all participants in the supply chain to
verify a product’s history of sale.
Malaria Medication in Nigeriaby World Bank Photo via Flickr.
Read MoreChinese pharmaceutical manufacturer Guilin Pharmaceuticals is rolling out SMS-text message codes on packaging to ensure authenticity of its antimalarial medication in Nigeria.
Guilin’s artesunate meets world-wide quality assurance standards and has been pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO). The Prequalification Programme applies unified standards of quality, safety and efficacy to medicinal products and includes manufacturing inspections, and evaluation of ingredients. Though the program is mainly used by UNAIDS and UNICEF to guide procurement, other agencies use it as a guide to determine safety at an international level, reports the WHO.
Now, purchasers of the medication can guard against purchasing counterfeit versions by scratching off a hidden identification code on drug packages. Patients can send the code via text message to a computer that will send back a safety message if the package is authentic, reports The Financial Times.
Read MoreNigerian Children Killed By Contaminated Teething Medicine What: A toxic chemical mixed into a teething medicine for babies has killed at least 84 children in Nigeria as of February 16, 2009. The children died after taking My Pikin Baby Teething Mixture, a syrup for teething pain, according to Nigeria’s Health Ministry. Health officials said that a batch of the medicine…
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