SafeMedicines.org

How to Buy Smoking Cessaton Meds Safely Online For the Great American Smokeout

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 20:11:56 -0500

How to Buy Smoking Cessaton Meds Safely Online For the Great American Smokeout:

November 17 is the 36th Great American Smokeout encouraging smokers to use the date to quit smoking, sponsored by the American Cancer Society. It’s a great time to quit smoking, but consumers need to avoid buying counterfeit smoking cessation medication from fake online pharmacies.

Counterfeit drugs discounting your health?

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:47:13 -0400

Customers purchasing prescription medications through online pharmacies should exercise caution, reports The Diabetes Resource. Some “discount” drugs, like those purchased from fake online pharmacies, are made with inferior active ingredients, altered formulations and even toxic additives. According to a report from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, 96% of online pharmacies analyzed operate outside state and federal laws, and 81% do not require a valid prescription.

In the United States alone, U.S. Customs and Border Protection...

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:57:47 -0400

In the United States alone, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized as many as three million counterfeit medicines targeting the chronically ill, including fake penicillin, AIDS, and arthritis medicines. Counterfeiters only care about profit, putting the lives’ of the unsuspecting chronically ill at risk – perhaps the most vulnerable population, as they need their medicine to stay healthy. Check our new infographic for a visual representation of the breadth of the problem: Global Epidemic: Counterfeiters targeting chronically ill.

Think that online pharmacy looks legitimate? Consider this:...

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:01:24 -0400

Think that online pharmacy looks legitimate? Consider this: counterfeiters may be using the web to sell their substandard, tainted, or even toxic pills. In fact, it’s estimated that about 50% of medicine sold through fake online pharmacies may be counterfeit.

Counterfeit treatments for cancer, diabetes, asthma, heart disease and other serious illnesses have all been discovered on these fake online pharmacies. It’s especially important that those living with chronic disease - who may be dependent on the integrity of their medication for life and health - exercise caution when ordering their medicines online. Read more in the new report, A Risky Proposition: How Opening the U.S. to Foreign Medicines Poses a Risk to Chronically Ill Americans.

Fortunately for America, it’s estimated only a tiny fraction of the global supply of counterfeit drugs makes it into the U.S. drug supply. All that could change, however, if Washington opens the closed system that has protected our medicines well for decades, and allows importation of foreign drugs.

"Counterfeit medicines claiming to treat cancer, diabetes, asthma, heart disease and other serious..."

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:25:13 -0400

“Counterfeit medicines claiming to treat cancer, diabetes, asthma, heart disease and other serious illnesses all have been discovered on [fake online pharmacy sites]. Given this largely unknown public health threat, it is important that all patients – particularly those living with chronic disease —their families, caregivers and health care professionals – exercise great caution when ordering medicine online.”

- PSM Report “A Risky Proposition”

Click here to read the report.

A Risky Proposition: How Opening the U.S. to Foreign Medicines...

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:53:31 -0400

A Risky Proposition: How Opening the U.S. to Foreign Medicines Poses a Risk to Chronically Ill Americans

Today, the Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) released a new report, A Risky Proposition: How Opening the U.S. to Foreign Medicines Poses a Risk to Chronically Ill Americans, detailing the dangers posed by counterfeit medicines to those American’s living with chronic disease if the secure and safe U.S. medicine supply chain is opened to foreign drugs through importation. PSM’s latest report alerts patients and caregivers to a growing epidemic: counterfeit, fake and tainted medicines. 134 million Americans – nearly half of all adults- suffer from at least one chronic disease with many depending on prescription medication for life and health. At the same time, many experts are concerned that the growing number of fake internet pharmacies provides a global distribution channel for fake or tainted medicines, making it much easier for criminal drug rings to sell their potentially ineffective and harmful products to unsuspecting Americans. Click here to read the report.

Now you can text to discover fake drugs

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:39:19 -0400

A Cambridge, MA-based company has developed a new system to help identify counterfeit medicines. In the “mobile product” authentication process, people can use their cell phones to text a number on the package to confirm that the medicines inside are authentic. This innovative tool will help those in the developing world, where counterfeit medicines are rampant. Read the full story by clicking here.

HD Net’s Dan Rather: “Xu is emblematic of the increasing...

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:54:46 -0400

HD Net’s Dan Rather: “Xu is emblematic of the increasing difficulty of securing the safety of the global drug supply. While customers in most developed countries can be pretty sure the medicines they buy at their local pharmacy are safe, patients in still developing nations do not have that luxury.”

"The rules we have in place today are over 20 years old. Technology has evolved, and the..."

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 11:54:47 -0400

“The rules we have in place today are over 20 years old. Technology has evolved, and the counterfeiters are more capable. It is time to modernize our system to ensure the integrity of prescription medications in America. We need to change current law so when officials seize counterfeit drugs coming into the U.S., they can destroy them rather than simply returning them to the counterfeiters.”

- – Utah Congressman Jim Matheson, who re-introduced H.R. 3026, Safeguarding America’s Pharmaceuticals Act, a bill to provide a way for authorities to track, seize and destroy counterfeit drugs.

Cancer, HIV and Hemophilia Medicines Counterfeited

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:36:05 -0400

Cancer, HIV and hemophilia medicines are among the most counterfeited medical products in Argentina. Counterfeiters have moved from lifestyle drugs to counterfeiting life-saving medicines, putting the health and safety of unsuspecting consumers at risk.

Reports like these highlight the need to keep the U.S. medicine supply chain closed and protected. Vigilance keeps the global counterfeit medicine problem largely outside our borders. However, proposed drug importation legislation could inadvertently open our borders to counterfeit imported medicine, potentially threatening the safety of our drug supply.

Gray-Market Drugs: “Don't have any integrity chain behind”

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:36:00 -0400

“You have these gray-market suppliers that approach organizations and say, ‘I have drug x,y, but it will cost you 450 percent more than what you used to pay,’” D’Amato says. “And the problem with that is those drugs don’t have any integrity chain behind them so very oftentimes counterfeit drugs can get into the drug supply.”

Experts Warn of Counterfeit Medicines Risks

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:28:30 -0400

Experts warn: Consumers who buy from fake online pharmacies may end up with counterfeit medicines that damage their health. A full 75 % of consumers who purchased medicine from fake “online pharmacies” couldn’t distinguish the fake from the real medicines and only learn that their medicines are tainted or substandard when it’s too late.

"In June last year, a man in his 40s in Nara Prefecture was taken to hospital after experiencing..."

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:27:38 -0400

“In June last year, a man in his 40s in Nara Prefecture was taken to hospital after experiencing spasms and diminished consciousness. Hours earlier, he had taken what turned out to be a counterfeit ED drug. He was diagnosed with a brain clot.”

- Associated Press
September 9, 2011

Fake drugs: a global overdose

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 11:14:02 -0400

France24 investigates the “worldwide ring of counterfeit medications.” According to the video report, e-commerce explosion has accelerated the way counterfeit medicine arrives in Europe. In 2010, the European Commission confiscated 3 million units of fake drugs. But the distribution of counterfeit medicine is not limited to Europe - Pfizer brands alone have been counterfeited in 101 countries. Watch the video to learn more.

Fake drugs: a global overdose by tvnportal

Today, Americans can largely protect themselves by avoiding fake online pharmacies. But drug importation legislation could inadvertently threaten the safety of our medicine supply – and exacerbate the problem of counterfeit medicine – by exposing our protected supply chain to medicines from abroad.

Combating the Global Counterfeit Market

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:18:23 -0400

Some estimate that the illicit counterfeit medicine industry has grown in to a $200 billion a year business and comprises roughly 30% of the medicine in developing countries. Sproxil Inc. is one company that recognizes the problem and is working to create mobile-phone based technology to combat the global counterfeit drug market.

Today, the threat of counterfeit medicine lies for the most part outside the U.S. But drug importation legislation could change this, inadvertently threatening the safety of our medicines supply chain.

"Counterfeit prescription drugs pose a significant risk to the public since these drugs are not..."

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:37:52 -0400

“Counterfeit prescription drugs pose a significant risk to the public since these drugs are not tested for safety, content, or purity by the Food and Drug Administration. Although the internet makes it easy to order fake drugs from foreign countries, persons who sell these counterfeit drugs make illegal profits at the expense of the public’s health.”

- U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin

Counterfeit medicines on Facebook?

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:29:40 -0400

We’re all used to ignoring spam we receive in our email inboxes. But did you know that medicine counterfeiters are now on Facebook? Researchers from the California Western School of Law have found that illicit online drug sellers are now using the direct-to-consumer advertising on social media platforms like Facebook to reach unsuspecting customers.

Luckily, the prevalence of counterfeit medicine in the U.S. is low, but talk in Congress over drug importation could inadvertently make out closed, protected medicine supply chain vulnerable.

U.K. Brothers Convicted of Selling Unlicensed Medicine on Fake Internet Pharmacy

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:19:25 -0400

Two brothers in the U.K. were convicted of selling counterfeit medicine through a fake online pharmacy. It contained a controlled substance that has the potential to cause blood pressure complications and even stroke. All they got was a fine. What do you think the penalty should be?

Proposed drug importation policies could threaten the U.S. medicine supply by inadvertently allowing counterfeit medicines like these to infiltrate the system.

Health officials in Jordan seized 25,000 packets of counterfeit...

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:20:15 -0400

Health officials in Jordan seized 25,000 packets of counterfeit medicine after they found the fake antibiotics in the back of pick-up truck on the side of the road. The Jordanian FDA reported that the fake Zithromax was “unfit for human consumption” but noted that a number of residents in east Amman may have already taken the counterfeit antibiotic.

Today, Americans are largely protected from dangerous counterfeit medicines, like those seized in Jordan, thanks to a closed, secure drug supply chain. But there’s talk in Congress of drug importation legislation that could inadvertently threaten the safety of our medicine supply by opening our borders to foreign medicines.

Galway Independent warns of dangerous, costly counterfeits.

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:10:43 -0400

The Irish newspaper, Galway Independent warns consumers that pharmaceuticals are among the kinds of products most frequently faked. According to a report, the leading G20 economies collectively lose billions “in the economic cost of deaths resulting from counterfeiting” and “for the additional cost of health services to treat injuries caused by dangerous fake products.” Read the whole story by clicking here.

Countries in the EU are particularly vulnerable to the problem of fake medicines because of their “parallel trade” system that allows open trade between member nations. Currently in the U.S., the medicine supply chain is closely regulated by the FDA, which keeps the problem of counterfeits to a minimum. This could change if Congress allows drug importation.