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.
China leads drug spammers
(Financial Times - August 20, 2007) Nearly two-fifths of spam e-mails offering popular medicines via the internet come from China, raising concerns about the country’s role in the supply of unregulated pharmaceutical products. Some sites provide legitimate drugs but others have dispatched sub-standard or counterfeit goods.
Financial Times - China leads drug spammers.doc.pdf 12.85 kB
Drug imports pose substantial risks
(Chain Drug Review - August 20, 2007) Significant numbers of Americans are buying drugs from foreign countries, often via the Internet, according to a recent study. Many drugs are purchased without a prescription, which may mean patients are not under the care of a licensed health care provider.
Chain Drug Review - Drug imports pose substantial risks.pdf 11.12 kB
Watching Out For Counterfeit Medicine
(Winter Park-Maitland Observer - August 2, 2007) Counterfeit prescription drugs are a real and growing threat to the health and safety of consumers. With more drugs being sold on the internet and imported from other countries, Americans need to be more vigilant than ever about the medications they take.
Winter Park Observer - Watching out for counterfeit meds.pdf 11.23 kB
Health Canada to crack down on fake pills
(National Post - July 23, 2007) The peddling of bogus pharmaceuticals is becoming such a worrisome problem that Health Canada has begun drafting a new anti-counterfeit strategy, expected to include beefed-up enforcement, stronger ties with police and a public-education campaign, a department official confirmed last week. The federal agency is also planning to hold a conference of interested parties to discuss the threat when the plan is released this fall.
National Post - Crack down on fake pills.pdf 14.02 kB
The 'global disaster' of fake internet pharmacies
(US-PharmaTechnologist.com - July 19, 2007) Fake internet pharmacies are a growing "global disaster" with increasingly dangerous consequences, pharmaceutical industry figures say. The decry follows last week's coroners report over the death of a Canadian woman who died from metal poisoning after purchasing fake drugs over the internet.
USPharmTech - global disaster of fake internet pharmacies.pdf 26.15 kB
Countrywide study to map fake drugs
(LiveMint.com - July 18, 2007) India’s drug regulator is proposing a sweeping survey to collect 50,000 drug samples from across the country to directly figure out the extent and spread of fake drugs. The European Union (EU) recently named India as the No. 1 source for counterfeit drugs entering the EU, ahead of the United Arab Emirates and China.
Livemint.com - Countrywide study to map fake drugs.pdf 17.21 kB
Large amount of fake pills intercepted
(Expatica.com - July 17, 2007) Customs officials confiscated an enormous amount of counterfeit antibiotics at Zaventem airport. A total of 600,000 antibiotic pills with a street value of EUR 300,000 were intercepted. The medicines were declared as "pharmaceuticals" and sent from a post office box in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
Expatica - fake antibiotics intercepted.pdf 10.67 kB
Africa major dump of fake medicine
(IPP Media - July 16, 2007) The threat of a thriving multimillion-dollar illegal trade in counterfeit drugs, vaccines and other medical products in the African continent is more real now than ever.
”We must fight against the deadly trade in fake drugs, which kill thousands of people in our continent every year,” said Interpol President Jackie Selebi. ”Counterfeiting is a worldwide problem. No continent is immune from the threat of imitation drugs.”
IPP MEDIA - Africa major dump of fake medicine.pdf 14.38 kB
