Counterfeit Problem in America

This video is from a great organization, Partnership for Safe Medicines, that I used to intern for. Please take a look at it. It is very informative. They have Rick Roberts, a counterfeit drug victim who narrates the story of Manuel Calvelo. Calvelo is a convicted fake medicine peddler, who sold fake drugs to American online through many fake pharmacy websites. 

Baby Remains Packaged in Pills

Earlier today, I watched a video posted from Glenn Beck and was thoroughly disturbed. He gets into more of the political side dealing with this horrendous act, but nonetheless I knew that I would have to write a blog post regarding this because it deals with pharmaceuticals and people all over the globe who are craving pills to “fix” any ailments they are suffering.

Custom officials in South Korea said that they have confiscated more than 17,000 “health” capsules smuggled from China that contain human remains. They have moved through international mail and through luggage in airports. Smugglers told customs that they believed the capsules were ordinary stamina enhancers. The powder is said to be a stamina enhancer and medical panacea in parts of Asia. Forensic reports have said that they have found 99.7% match with human tissue.

Glenn Beck describes this practice from starting with corrupt medical staff who are tipping off medical companies when babies are aborted or still-birthed. These little corpses are then purchased and stored in household fridges before they are cooked, in medical drying machines, and smashed into a fine powder. Then placed in capsules to be sold. This is disgusting. As I have mentioned countless times, BEWARE of where you purchase your medicines!

Online Pharmacies

I got this infograph from a place I used to intern at. They have a great website dealing with counterfeit drugs. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy has released their year end data on safe online pharmacies… Here, shown in this post, is the picture from the Partnership for Safe Medicines website. The NABP has published a report, “Internet Drug Outlet Identification Program Progress Report for State and Federal Regulators: January 2012.” You can easily avoid counterfeiters! Look HERE for information on how to do that.

World Intellectual Property Day 2012

I missed World Intellectual Property Day 2012! It was yesterday, the 26th of April. Here is a video from INTERPOL you should take a look at.

“Operation Maya again shows that there is no product which is not being counterfeited and criminals are using every means available to traffic fake and illicit goods,” said Operation Maya project manager, Roberto Manriquez, a crime intelligence officer with INTERPOL’s IP crime unit.  The initial results from Operation Maya are to mark World Intellectual Property Day, April 26.

Evidence Swallowed

I found a great article in the New York Times called “The Wrong Way to Stop Fake Drugs.” Where the author, Roger Bate, states that ”numerous incidents surely go unreported, the evidence swallowed, the deaths incorrectly attributed to natural causes.” This is true, over the years people have been poisoning cough medicine by putting diethylene glycol, which is the main ingredient in antifreeze, in children’s cough medicine and other medicines.

By hiding diethylene glycol in cough medicines it hides the fact that the patient died from diethylene glycol. It is then recorded that the patient died from whatever illness, like the common cold, they were being treated for. One huge distributor of fake pharmaceuticals is the world wide web. Technically, it is illegal, for a US citizen, to order drugs online from other countries, but you don’t see people getting in trouble for that. As soon as an illegal online pharmacy is shut down by the FDA, a few more pop up and replace that shut down one. The author of the article likened this by saying it is like playing wack-a-mole. I’m glad people are trying to shut down shady online pharmacies.

The one good thing about ACCREDITED online pharmacies is the wide spread availability for those who are uninsured, under-insured, etc. This could provide access to the medicines they need and can afford. For this case, it would be good to not shut down this business entirely. The current law is set in place so people do not purchase potentially dangerous drugs. I, personally, would not go online to purchase drugs. I try not to take drugs at all. I believe prevention is key and that people should try to take all the precautions they can to ensure good health. Sometimes, I realize that that is not enough and pharmaceuticals may be the answer.  The answer, however, is not online and certainly not from a non-accredited website.

More Fake Avastin Found

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found a second counterfeit version of the cancer drug called Avastin. It has been found in the U.S packaged as the Turkish brand of medication. Doctors purchased the counterfeits through Richards Pharmacy, which is a U.K.-licensed distributor.

These counterfeits do not contain the active ingredient that Avastin should contain for treating cancers of the colon, lung, kidney, and brain. The vials are packaged as Altuzan, Turkish version of Avastin, which are not approved for the use in the U.S.  The FDA warns that any packages with the lot number B6021 are considered counterfeit. Nothing harmful has been reported yet.

British regulators said that Richards Pharma imported 120 packs of fake Altuzan from Turkey and 38 of those were shipped to the U.S. The last two months I have reported on fake Avastin and it seems that more fake Avastin is appearing. This fake drug is moving through different channels of distributors. It is tough to say where they are originally from. Hopefully this will be sorted out soon.

Avastin Importer Claims What He Did Was Legal

I have posted about this earlier in February 2012. In summary, these fake cancer drugs called Avastin have been sold to at least 19 doctors and clinics in the United States.

Right now a federal grand jury has been convened with subpoenas going out to the various clinics involved. They are still trying to find the original source, thinking it is from China or India. The company called “Montana Healthcare Solutions” offered 400mg vials for a little less than $2000 USD ($400 less than manufactures price).

Recently a CBS reporter, Armen Keteyian, traveled to Barbados in the Caribbean to interview Tom Haughton, owner of the company selling the vials. While talking to Armen Keteyian, Haughton says, ”I have nothing to hide… The businesses that I have are ethical, safe and legal.” He says it was safe because he followed protocol even though there was salt and starch, and acetone found in the drugs.

He goes on blaming everyone, but himself. He even says that the clinics, the ones purchasing the drug, are at fault. Stating that, ”these clinics, they purchased this product, and we’re not in the U.S.,” said Haughton. “So I’m not sure what the U.S. laws are. They would have to make sure what they’re doing.”

This is just ludacris! Even when he was asked about the possibility of the drugs being made in a bath tub from some God forsaken place, he says that he will not speculate, but he knows he followed protocol and it is not his fault and says that his company bought the drugs through a regulated EU supply chain.