British patients at risk of fake medicines
Counterfeit drugs are being smuggled into the United Kingdom, jeopardizing the lives of millions of patients.
From the Independent:
Packets of fake pills are being smuggled into high-street chemists and sold as real medicines that prevent heart attacks or fight cancer, putting the lives of millions of British patients at risk.
Criminal gangs that cut their teeth [...]
King of Viagra sold over 200 cases of fake Viagra per day
A doctor in the United Kingdom pled guilty for selling thousands of counterfeit Viagra over the Internet.
From BBC News:
Dr George Patino, supposedly known online as the “King of Viagra”, sold thousands of counterfeit impotence tablets to customers via the web.
He pleaded guilty at Kingston Crown Court and was described a “disgrace to his profession” by [...]
Fake drugs create real problems
ABC News has a report on counterfeit drugs and the real life problems that they cause.
Read and watch the entire report here.
Visits to fake drug sites increase 3 fold: Study
A study released by online brand management firm MarkMonitor has found that visits to fake drug websites has increased three-fold over the past year.
From Forbes:
MarkMonitor’s study analyzed 2,986 sites hawking major pharmaceutical brands pulled from its pool of spam e-mails. That’s slightly less than the 3,160 sites tracked in a similar study by MarkMonitor last [...]
Counterfeit Drugs Quiz at Foreign Policy Magazine
Foreign Policy Magazine has an interactive quiz at their website regarding counterfeit drugs.
See the quiz here.
Counterfeit Drugs is a $40 billion market.
[FP Passport]
Purchasing black market drugs in Norhtern Ireland is dangerous
A doctor from Belfast is warning consumers not to purchase drugs from black market sources.
From BBC News:
People are risking their health by buying prescription tranquilisers on the black market, a Belfast GP has warned.
Dr George O’Neill said in his 30 years working in the north and west of the city, addictions to drugs such as [...]
Getting your fix from the Internet
A new report has found that it is very easy to get prescription drugs online without a prescription.
From ABC News:
OxyContin. Valium. Xanax. Vicodin. Ritalin. Adderall. Despite being some of the most commonly abused and misused prescription drugs in the country, each of these controlled drugs is readily available online and most websites sell them without [...]
Counterfeit Viagra causes losses of $2 billion
Counterfeit drugs seizures rose 24 percent worldwide in 2007, according to the Pharmaceutical Security Institute.
From Bloomberg:
Seizures of bogus prescription medicines jumped 24 percent to 1,513 incidents in 2007, and illicit versions of 403 different prescription drugs were confiscated in 99 countries, according to the Pharmaceutical Security Institute, a Vienna, Virginia-group funded by 26 drugmakers. The [...]
Counterfeit Drugs Market Value: $40 Billion
Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Drugs are sold as legitimate brand name medicines but have been created without the authority of the brand owner.
Sales of counterfeit drugs are estimated at $40 billion a year.
Source: Katie Merx, “Can you tell which pills are fake?,” Detroit Free Press, July 26, 2006, and Judy Alta, “Counterfeit Drugs Seen as Growing Problem,” [...]
31 percent of counterfeit drugs seized in EU originated from India
Source: IANS, “India main source of counterfeit medicines seized in Europe,” Malaysia Sun, June 1, 2007.
