Counterfeit Drugs Around the World

Almost Counterfeit OD

CounterfeitDrug — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:31:14 +0000

A man in Manila, Philippines had a plan to commit suicide by overdosing on sedatives. Hours later nothing happened to him, but little did he know that those were counterfeit drugs, which were confirmed by a lab. This is a very rare case, of course it is, usually people succeed when they try to OD on something. Ironic isn’t it? According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this is a rare case because counterfeits are usual killers. Most cases go unreported so it is hard to have good solid statistics. People usually do not know they are taking counterfeits, they blame their continued sickness on something else, people rarely attribute it to the “all curing” drugs they are taking.

We are all victims of this horrendous public health problem. Branded and generic products are counterfeited several ways, by being substandard (little amount of correct ingredients), false, outdated, or falsely packaged. FDA Director Suzette Lazo stated that ”We are all victims of counterfeit drugs. The industry is a victim because they are cheated of the market that rightfully belongs to them. But it is the patient that suffers from the scourge of counterfeit drugs.”

A 2005 US FDA study estimates that worldwide sales of fake drugs exceed $ 3.5 billion a year. Every year the counterfeiters are getting better and better. Consumers need to be more aware of the drugs they are taking and where they are purchasing them from. Please click HERE for more information on how to tell if they are counterfeit and to read the original article.

Counterfeit Network

CounterfeitDrug — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 17:50:39 +0000

Good video put out by Pfizer. First you need to find someone to manufacture tablets then you need to sell it by having a whole distribution network. These people are very sophisticated. They target the correct people. They may claim to be from Canada, but they are really all around the world. There usually is no pharmacy. They have nothing. This money you give them will go to many different places, mainly to fund organized crime, such as terrorism. You can easily find good pharmacies online by going to www.vippspharmacies.net.

Legislation to Increase Penalties for Counterfeiting

CounterfeitDrug — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:08:24 +0000

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee approved bipartisan legislation to increase penalties for trafficking counterfeit drugs. The Counterfeit Drug Penalty Enhancement Act responds to recommendations made by the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator and the administration’s Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Inter-agency Working Group.

This legislation reflects the severity of the crime and what it does to the public by increasing the penalties for those trafficking counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Right now it is illegal to introduce counterfeits into interstate commerce and these are the same for those who traffic other products, like electronics or clothing. This act will specifically target the culprits who knowingly harm the United States public by bringing in counterfeits.

Sproxil

CounterfeitDrug — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:55:39 +0000

I have been really busy lately with family and my fiance. I just wanted to introduce a blog that I may have some writings appear on.

Also, this is another blog that you may be interested in. It has awesome information. Basically SPROXIL provides software and systems that capture market intelligence in emerging markets using cell phones. They deal with counterfeit drugs. Take a look at their blog!

Facebook Helps Cops

CounterfeitDrug — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:36:04 +0000

In Scotland, cash, drugs, and illegal goods have been seized after cops logged into the biggest social network known as Facebook in order to get the bad guys.

The police targeted Facebook advertising to link to the anonymous Crimestoppers reporting site. This was part of a huge campaign called “Made from Crime,” which launched on August 15 and people, for the first time, could send authorities tips. The article says that more than 280 police officers and staff were involved in the two days of action and had 25 addresses targeted and 44 people charged.

David Gordon, head of Lothian and Borders Police’s Serious Organized Crime Unit, said that “this campaign was deliberately designed to be ambitious and tenacious and target criminals who believed they could live lavish lifestyles from the proceeds of crime.”

This type of campaign could greatly help with counterfeit pharmaceuticals! This article doesn’t state that they found counterfeit drugs directly, but they found drugs, cash, and counterfeit goods. With counterfeit pharmaceuticals being such a big deal, this could easily aide in the reduction of counterfeit crime in the pharmaceutical industry.

Combat Counterfeit Treaty Signed

CounterfeitDrug — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:59:46 +0000

There have been new international efforts made last Friday, which includes Russia, France and Germany, who all singed the first EVER internatinal-treaty to combat the growing multibillion-dollar fake pharmaceutical industry. Ambassadors and diplomats of Austria, Finland, Italy, Israel, Iceland, Portugal, Switzerland and Ukraine have signed the treaty. The council of Europe-sponsored Medicrime convention, which was signed in Moscow, makes it so that states that signed it have to criminalize a broad range of activities that make possible the sale of fake medicines. The convention lays down basic rules/standards for the criminal law in those areas.

Estelle Steiner, Council of Europe media officer, says that “the global trend has been that these crimes were often not considered as serious enough to merit criminal law measures,” she also added that ”in some countries, these activities have already been criminalized. In others, the governments will have to introduce new measures.”

This agreement from Moscow marks the beginning of greater international efforts on combating counterfeit medicines. If you would like to read more from the article, please click HERE.

Counterfeit Song!

CounterfeitDrug — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:44:56 +0000

Here is an awesome song that a friend of mine, George Kearse, posted under my contact tab.

“Proud to be” Yvonne Chaka Chaka featuring Youssou N’Dour

Exploitation of Twitter

CounterfeitDrug — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:21:07 +0000

I found an article from InPharm that is very enlightening in regards to Twitter and counterfeit drugs. According to a report published by the department of computer science at the University of Alkron in Ohio, counterfeiters are using Twitter to peddle counterfeit drugs.

Most pharmaceutical spam still comes through email with 65% of it being related to counterfeits, but since there are 175 million twitter users tweeting around 95 million times a day, it makes Twitter more attractive to counterfeit spammers.

Twitter is creating an ideal environment for counterfeiters. It is so attractive because they can make profiles and follow as many as possible and they can start advertising their drugs easily by using the most popular hashtags and such.

On The Run

CounterfeitDrug — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:06:40 +0000

A Wellington man, Bo Jiang, is wanted for trial in America for trafficking counterfeit drugs and he has been on the run ever since he failed to turn up at his extradition hearing. If you click the link in the previous sentence you can read a more detailed description of his story and charges faced.

The 33-year-old man was reporting regularly on bail since January, but went missing last week and is said to have returned to China, which might make it impossible to extradite him from China to America for the charges facing him.

He was in New Zealand on a business visa and he imported and sold Asian foodstuff to grocery stores. The US government wasn’t to extradite him to face about 30 charges relating to internet sales of counterfeits, which were mainly erectile dysfunction drugs bearing false trademarks.

It Adds Up

CounterfeitDrug — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:59:36 +0000

I found this short article about fake drugs and a quote stood out to me. I never really thought much about how people do not report a counterfeit drug they have purchased. I mean, no one likes to tell people about something stupid they did.

“People don’t like to report that they did something stupid. It’s just not human nature. Often it’s just $40 or $50 that people lose but if it happens to 100,000 people, it adds up.” – RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Sgt. Boyd Merrill.

Buying drugs online is not smart. It is best to purchase them from a pharmacy. If you must buy them online, you should buy them from VIPPS approved pharmacies and do some research on the company. Sgt. Merrill also said that more than 40 countries have taken part in international operations targeting the online sale of counterfeit and illegal medicines.