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Five Capital Region doctors were convicted in federal court today on charges of misbranding drugs after they admitted to using a cheaper Botox substitue on unsuspecting patients, reports CBS News. The Plastic Surgery Group, LLP, of Albany(TPSG), pleaded guilty to the charge after an investigation found the doctors in the practice had been injecting patients with TriToxin, a Botulinum toxin…
Read MoreAfter nearly two years under investigation, the final sentence for running an international multi-million pound counterfeit drug operation was issued in the United Kingdom. The first four convictions were made in September 2007 and on July 6, the final member of the operation received a 12 month sentence, suspended for two years, for masterminding an industrial scale conspiracy of supplying counterfeit drugs between 2002 and 2005. In total, the seven convicted members of this international counterfeit drug ring received a combined 17.5 years imprisonment—an average of 2.5 years for each participant—for their part in the U.K. distribution arm of a global ring operating from China, India and Pakistan, extending to the Caribbean and the United States.
Read MorePart 3: Implications for the U.S. and the Drug Importation Debate – As the debate surrounding the possible ban on the repackaging of medicines in Europe simmers to a boil, here in the United States the potentially dangerous practice of ordering prescription medicines via the Internet is mushrooming. Enticed by the promise of cheaper drugs and convenience by buying online, patients are largely unaware of the risks that come with online pharmacies. These risks can range from receiving products with too much, too little or no active ingredients, to being exposed to counterfeit products, which in some rare cases have been found to contain rat poison, boric acid and even inkjet cartridges!
Read MoreFERNLEY–What You Should Know About Counterfeit Drugs: What is the definition of a counterfeit medication? U.S. law defines counterfeit drugs as those sold under a product name without proper authorization. Counterfeiting can apply to both brand name and generic products, where the identity of the source is deliberately and fraudulently mislabeled in a way that suggests that it is the…
Read MoreIn January 2009, Pfizer in the UK produced a pretty commercial to get people to pay attention to the dangers of counterfeit drugs. Visit their website at RealDanger.co.uk or click on the still image at right to see the video.
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View Larger Map What: A 2004 study published in the Journal of Tropical Medicine and International Health found that an “alarmingly high proportion of antimalarial drugs bought in pharmacies and shops in Southeast Asia are counterfeit,” impeding treatment of malaria across the region. Who: Pharmacies selling antimalarial drugs across Southeast Asia (SE Asia); counterfeit copies of drugs produced by Guilin…
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Part 1: Your critical role in safe medicines — In recent blog entries, the Partnership for Safe Medicines’ (PSM) experts have warned consumers and pharmacists of the dangers that counterfeit drugs pose, recapped legislation surrounding these issues and highlighting incidents of counterfeit drugs from across the world. However, this month we have invited guest blogger Gregory Zec to share his thoughts on some current drug safety issues. This week, Gregory uses a fictional consumer’s experiences (which he based on real patients’ stories) to explore the confusion many patients encounter from when they receive repackaged, imported prescription drugs from a legitimate pharmacy.
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