News Room

COUNTERFEIT MEDICINES

While the issue of counterfeit medicines is not new, there seems to be a growing prevalence of incidents reported by the media. The following articles highlight some of the reported cases, and dangers, of counterfeit medicines.

Indians found guilty in UK’s biggest fake drug rackets

(SIFY News - September 18, 2007) Four people, including two of Indian origin, have been found guilty of masterminding a multi-million pound global racket of selling counterfeit Viagra and other drugs over the Internet after procuring them from India, Pakistan and China.

Sify News - Indians found guilty in fake drug racket.pdf 12.91 kB

Police bust online Viagra gang

(VRUNET - September 18, 2007) The leader of a gang selling fake Viagra over the internet has been given a four and a half year jail sentence. The internet supplier ordered fake Viagra tablets from suppliers in China and Mexico for 25p each and sold them for as much as £20 online to people in the US and Europe.

VRUNET - Police bust online Viagra gang.pdf 20.34 kB

Dubai Customs confiscate 5 million pills of counterfeit medicines and expired food products

(Dubai Customs - September 12, 2007) Dubai Customs announced today that it has successfully confiscated five million tablets of counterfeit medicines worth more than AED 20 million. The warehouse contained many kinds of counterfeit medicine from different international brand names, in addition to large quantities of unknown drug pills. Customs inspectors also found various amounts of fake Pfizer's Lipitor, GlaxoSmithKline's Augmentin and Bayer's Levitra pills.

Dubai Customs - 5 million pills confiscated.pdf 13.16 kB

Zimbabwe Authorities Open Probe Into Market In Counterfeit AIDS Drugs

(Voice of America - September 10, 2007) Zimbabwean authorities have launched an investigation into the alleged black market sale of counterfeit antiretroviral drugs to treat HIV/AIDS. According to the Chairman of the Zimbabwe National Network of People with AIDS, in some cases registered non-governmental organizations, purporting to help those living with HIV/AIDS, are selling ARVs whose date of expiry has passed.

VOA - Zimbabwe Launches Probe into Counterfeit AIDS Drugs.pdf 11.89 kB

Bogus Drug Peddlers Thrive in Cyberspace

(Scientific American - September 5, 2007) A global survey last month found only four of 3,160 online pharmacies studied were accredited as Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites, the industry standard. Average prices for six top-selling drugs on the non-accredited sites were 75 percent cheaper than on approved ones, suggesting most products were dubious.

Scientific American - Bogus drug peddlers thrive in cyberspace.pdf 34.55 kB

Beware of fake medicine

(New Straits Times - August 27, 2007) Fake drugs are a growing concern in Asia but Malaysia faces a bigger problem of unregistered and adulterated products. As more and more drugs are being sold on the Internet and by street peddlers, the proliferation of fake medicine is everywhere.

New Straits Times - Beware of fake medicine.pdf 48.52 kB

Trial of Pharmaceutical Company Exposes Counterfeit Medicine Production

(The Epoch Times, August 20, 2007) -- According to a Chinese report, once in court the five defendants exposed a lot of inside information detailing counterfeit medicine production.

Mr. Niu Zhongren, the only individual responsible for purchasing raw materials, replaced the mandatory "field inspections" and "sample testing" with simple "phone calls" in the purchasing process and claimed that he "could not understand the quality control reports from vendors."

The Epoch Times - Trial exposes counterfeit medicine production.pdf 40.16 kB

Brandjacking Big Pharma

(Forbes.com -- August 20, 2007) A study of online pharmacies released Monday by the consultant company MarkMonitor reveals a disturbing rate of fraud among drug-selling sites on the Web. By driving traffic to drug sales sites with spam e-mails, the more than 7,000 online pharmacies tracked by the study drew millions of daily visitors and estimated sales in the billions of dollars annually. Only a tiny fraction of the online businesses possessed the certifications they claimed.

Forbes - Brandjacking Big Pharma.pdf 13.88 kB