tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37672665195471070452024-03-13T10:39:58.823-04:00Secure Pharma Chain BlogPromoting Peace of Mind in the Global Supply Chainxstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.comBlogger544125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-85381952673992545482011-01-16T08:44:00.005-05:002011-01-16T09:09:40.227-05:00Can You Believe It? J&J Announces Another Recall...<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TTL76NGosjI/AAAAAAAABYY/Z3hAk1N2RuQ/s1600/You%2BHave%2BGot.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562785467124462130" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TTL76NGosjI/AAAAAAAABYY/Z3hAk1N2RuQ/s200/You%2BHave%2BGot.jpg" /></a> <strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;">McNeil Consumer Healthcare Initiates Yet Another Voluntary Recall Of Certain Products.<br /></span></strong><br />Just when you thought it could not get much worse for J &J, on Friday Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division, in consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled certain lots of TYLENOL® 8 Hour, TYLENOL® Arthritis Pain, and TYLENOL® upper respiratory products, and certain lots of BENADRYL®, SUDAFED PE®, and SINUTAB® products distributed in the United States, the Caribbean, and Brazil.<br /><br />The J &J company statement said that the recalled products were manufactured at the McNeil plant in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania prior to April 2010, when production at the facility was suspended. The company is initiating the recall as a precautionary measure after an extensive review of past production records found instances where equipment cleaning procedures were insufficient or that cleaning was not adequately documented. It is very unlikely that this impacted the quality of these products.<br /><br />In addition, McNeil Consumer Healthcare is also initiating a voluntary recall of certain product lots of ROLAIDS® Multi-Symptom Berry Tablets distributed in the United States, in order to update the labeling. The company initiated the recall after determining that the product labeling does not include the language “Does not meet USP” as required by regulation.<br /><br />According to the press release, McNeil identified the inadequacies as part of a thorough, proactive product quality and process assessment of all McNeil produced products.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">On all levels this is a saga of an industry giant that has poorly managed the entire process of production, product quality control, regulatory affairs and public relations. J&J’s entire corporate image, trusted brands, executive management and financial future is in a significant state of decline.<br /><br />J&J’s announcement of a comprehensive plan to clean up its production and public image is a operational and PR process that should have been initiated many months ago. </span></strong><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;"></span></strong><br /><br /><div><p><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">The lost sales, enormous expense in recalls and cost to the brands has to be a huge hit to J&J's bottom line.<br /><br />This story is a cautionary tale for all, not making an investment in and failure to take the necessary steps to assure quality control and to protect your brand from sub-standard production, poor quality raw materials, fraud, adulteration and counterfeit will cost the stakeholders and consumer. </span></strong></p><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">What are the odds that we will see another recall from J&J soon?<br /></span></strong><br />To learn more about supply chain authentication technologies, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a></div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-73574691928022441392011-01-12T01:41:00.005-05:002011-01-12T04:33:09.381-05:00Freightwatch International: December 2010 Cargo Theft Report<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TS11CeyDCAI/AAAAAAAABYI/zE_e3r-sZ4E/s1600/Trucking.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561229800355596290" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TS11CeyDCAI/AAAAAAAABYI/zE_e3r-sZ4E/s320/Trucking.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>FreightWatch International, </strong></span><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;">an industry leader in providing cargo theft intelligence through data collection, analysis, and customized reporting, released their monthly report on cargo theft for December 2010.<br /><br /></span>FreightWatch</strong> recorded 64 incidents in December, a slight decrease in the average theft rate per month at the end of a very busy fourth quarter.<br /><br />By location, California, Florida and Texas accounted the highest number of incidents in December, with 17, 13, and seven thefts respectively. This month, an average loss value of $383,350 resulted from the 25 incidents with reported loss values.<br /><br />Violence in cargo theft remained low in 2010, however, three incidents occurred in December in which weapons were used in the acquisition of cargo, including two hijackings in Southern California and an armed robbery in Memphis.<br /><br /><strong>FreightWatch</strong> is reporting four, very publicized pharmaceutical thefts in December:<br /><br />• December 7th in Dallas, Texas, the theft of a trailer of pharmaceuticals of an unreported value.<br />• December 13th in Baltimore, Maryland the hijacking of a delivery van of pharmaceuticals of an unreported value.<br />• December 17th in Memphis, Tennessee a warehouse robbery and hijacking of delivery vans of an unreported value.<br />• December 23rd in Memphis, Tennessee a delivery van robbery valued at $439,000<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">The issue of pharmaceutical cargo theft energizes the need for material screening of products within the supply chain, from manufacturer to dispenser, to properly protect consumers everywhere.<br /><br />As the value and prevalence increases, so too does the potential risk to consumers.<br /></span></strong><br />To read the entire report from <strong>Freightwatch International</strong>, visit:<br /><a href="http://www.freightwatchintl.com/">http://www.freightwatchintl.com/</a><br /><br />To learn more about pharmaceutical material screening technologies, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-74267287863444631792011-01-09T04:51:00.004-05:002011-01-09T04:51:00.741-05:00Caution: The Rising Price of Fake Drugs<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TScPzqDTpDI/AAAAAAAABXo/C_vkBaa30Mc/s1600/Caution%2BFlag.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 128px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 128px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559429645148070962" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TScPzqDTpDI/AAAAAAAABXo/C_vkBaa30Mc/s400/Caution%2BFlag.jpg" /></a><br /><div><strong><span style="font-size:78%;">By: Alan Clock, Senior Vice President, XStream Systems, Inc.<br /></span></strong><div><br /><div><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">The following is a re-post of a Secure Pharma Chain opinion blog from 2010:</span></strong></div><br /><div><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;">Industry security experts are noticing a significant trend in the illegal counterfeit medication trade and unfortunately it does not bode well for the unsuspecting consumer.<br /></span></strong><br />Apparently the sophisticated drug counterfeiter is realizing that as the consumer and supply chain becomes more aware of this deadly crime, they must be more clever in marketing their wares publicly.<br /><br />With the Internet and its anonymity the counterfeiter has been able to market directly to the supply chain and consumer. In the past all they had to do was to offer their bogus goods online at a dramatically lower price than the genuine product and they would automatically have a ready supply of buyers.<br /><br />Today as the consumer becomes more aware of the exploding issue of fake medications they are heeding the buyer beware mantra of "if a deal is too good to be true, it probably is" and avoiding nefarious deals.<br /><br />Naturally the smart counterfeiter is now raising his price, just enough to appear as if it is a dramatically discounted, genuine product but not too good to appear to be "too good to be true" to the end user.<br /><br /><strong>The perfect, high margin crime of pharmaceutical counterfeiting is becoming even more lucrative.<br /><br /></strong><span style="color:#3333ff;"><strong>Now more than ever, the pharmaceutical supply chain needs to protect itself by deploying a variety of safeguards and technologies to make certain that products that flow through their inventories are authentic and safe. Consumers need to be very diligent and cautious to make certain that they are buying their medications from a reliable and trusted pharmacy and not from sources that do not require prescriptions from your personal physician.<br /><br />As it relates to your medications, "buyer beware" not only means protecting your pocketbook but protecting your health and well being as well.<br /></strong></span><br /><br />To learn more about pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting technologies, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/. </div></div></div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-69465923192220437782011-01-07T03:05:00.004-05:002011-01-08T08:51:20.781-05:00Drug Counterfeiting, Adapt or Perish<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TSYHYDI_pJI/AAAAAAAABXQ/-Qh8MD9qeZ0/s1600/Storm.jpg"><span style="font-size:130%;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 118px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559138899776742546" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TSYHYDI_pJI/AAAAAAAABXQ/-Qh8MD9qeZ0/s400/Storm.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">"Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative." </span></strong></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">H.G. Wells<br /></span></strong><br /></span><strong>The following is a re-posting of an opinion blog in Secure Pharma Chain blog from 2010:</strong><br /><strong><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">By: Alan Clock, Senior Vice President, XStream Systems<br /><br /></span></strong>For those of us knowledgeable about the issue of counterfeiting, we have long been aware of the huge growing menace that has seemingly lurked in the shadows of the collective consciousness of the public at large for some time now.<br /><br />Even for those who have been at the forefront of this serious threat, which the FBI dubs “the crime of the 21st century”, currently there seems to be a heightened sense of concern about how quickly this criminal activity is proliferating. It would appear now that this threat is advancing well beyond even our own alarmist predictions.<br /><br />To date, much of the death and destruction associated with counterfeiting activity has occurred off the radar screen from the populace of privileged, developed nations and instead in the isolated world of underdeveloped areas and their residents.<br /><br />For some of us with the advantage of a prosperous free market system, we have been somewhat immune to the spectacle of the criminal poisoning of disadvantage populations, which happens routinely in Africa and Asia by the purveyors of this insidious transgression.<br /><br />In 2010, the widely accepted World Health Organization’s estimate is that pharmaceutical counterfeits are a $75 billion industry with an annual growth percentage of 12-16%. The World Customs Institute estimates that food counterfeiting is a $49 billion annual enterprise.<br /><br />According to the study of Counterfeiting Intelligence Bureau of the International Chamber of Commerce counterfeit goods make up conservatively 5 - 7% of World Trade which the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition calculates would make the current global counterfeit economy the world’s biggest single business.<br /><br />We now find ourselves in a perfect storm that will expand counterfeit criminal activity well beyond our wildest estimates and make it far more deadly in scope and size. The primary elements feeding this calamity include:<br /><br />· a worldwide economy in a downward spiral<br />· ineffective regulations and laws on the crime of counterfeiting<br />· spotty or careless enforcement of existing laws on counterfeiting<br />· disjointed supply chains that cross multiple governmental boundaries and jurisdictions<br />· huge taxes on critical commercial markets like healthcare that are squeezing both the business and the onsumer to look for cheaper goods<br />· a collective lack of knowledge and leadership by governments around the globe to protect their constituents<br />· industries that choose to ignore the threat to their businesses instead of protecting their brand and customers<br />· a collective lack awareness of the deadly nature of the threat of counterfeits by consumers worldwide, most consider this a harmless act<br /><br />Until now, this criminal activity, although grand in its size has really been driven by single individuals or disparate organized entities that realize how lucrative and safe this nefarious criminal activity has become. Criminals understand that counterfeiting is the perfect crime:<br /><br />· there are few ways to get caught<br />· if they do get caught their activity carries almost no significant ramifications<br />· most often their crime will not be discovered for some time giving them plenty of time to cover their tracks and escape<br />· they have a global marketplace where they can carry out transactions anonymously in cyberspace<br />· the profit margin derived from counterfeiting transcends what most businesses make in a legitimate activity<br /><br />Even as this perfect crime expands to educated and developed nations, we now seem at the precipice of something far more dangerous and deadly as this menace seems likely to evolve into something much larger in size and scope and far more insidious as a whole.<br /><br />Many experts now fear the inevitable, when terror organizations, who are not driven by greed but rather destruction, realize the relative ease and deadly effectiveness that a purposeful counterfeiting event could trigger in a region or nation. Be it in a consumer good, food stuff, electronics or medication, one single, simple adulteration could literally harm millions with relative impunity.<br /><br /><strong>Adapt or Perish, the time is now for governments, industry and consumers to understand the need for solutions to protect themselves from the various nefarious sources that threaten their health and wellbeing.<br /><br />Today there are many technologies and services available that can offer protection to industry and consumers from those who would seek to profit or cause destruction. Leaders in governments and industry around the globe need to act now to protect entire populations.<br /><br />Although no one solution, to date provides a single, "iron clad" solution to this scourge, when appropriately layered, these existing solutions can and do create effective and efficient security to protect supply chains and consumers from fraudulent, adulterated and counterfeit products.<br /></strong><br />To learn more about, anti-counterfeiting solutions, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-37246894634112537252011-01-06T03:05:00.001-05:002011-01-06T03:05:00.467-05:00Straight Talk: Fake Drugs Are Real<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TSItTKJUXkI/AAAAAAAABW4/wHeRp_Nu6jw/s1600/US%2BPharmacist%2B12-2010.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 216px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 292px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558054697292815938" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TSItTKJUXkI/AAAAAAAABW4/wHeRp_Nu6jw/s320/US%2BPharmacist%2B12-2010.jpg" /></a><br /><div><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;"><span style="color:#000000;">US Pharmacist</span> magazine prints an excellent “straight talk” editorial about counterfeit drugs in its December 2010 issue.<br /></span></strong><br />Harold E. Cohen, Editor-in-Chief of <strong>US Pharmacist</strong> writes an extremely frank and insightful editorial on the problem of counterfeit medication globally and encapsulates it concisely.<br /><br />Mr. Cohen's entire “Straight Talk” editorial titled <strong>Fake Drugs Are Real</strong> follows:<br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#000066;"><strong>Now that the hoopla and celebrations over the midterm election results are quickly fading, Congress, with its newly elected members, will soon have to get down to the serious and daunting tasks of fixing the economy, reducing unemployment, exploring defense spending, and paying more attention to health care in the United States. While the provisions of the original health care bill will continue to be hotly debated, there is another health care crisis in the U.S. and other countries that has been growing exponentially for more than a quarter of a century and that seems to get little or no political attention.<br /><br />According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the appearance of counterfeit medicines in international commerce was first mentioned as a problem at a WHO conference in Kenya in 1985. The proliferation of fake drugs is so widespread that no organization or business analyst can accurately predict the value of this trade to the counterfeiters or the number of lives it has affected; but by some estimates, 10% of all global drug sales are counterfeit, with some observers saying the total could be as high as 25%. And fake drugs put some $75 billion into the pockets of their distributors. While the pundits may argue over the actual figures, one thing virtually all of them agree on is that the widespread use of the Internet is the fuel powering the enormous growth in the distribution of counterfeit drugs worldwide. The WHO estimates that 50% of all medicines sold online are counterfeit. According to the Pharmaceutical Security Institute, last year nearly 1,700 incidents of counterfeit drugs were reported, triple the number in 2004.<br /><br />The counterfeiters apparently spare no therapeutic category. The WHO reports that 60% of all the counterfeit drugs are manufactured to treat the most popular therapeutic categories, including antibiotics, hormones, analgesics, steroids, and antihistamines. Most recently, counterfeit drugs have popped up in very unlikely products as well. For example, the FDA recently reported that counterfeiters have infiltrated the surgical mesh market. Surgical mesh is used to reinforce soft tissue during surgery. And this past summer, the FDA warned about fraudulent Tamiflu sold over the Internet as “generic tamiflu.” In this particular scam, the product did not contain Tamiflu's active ingredient, oseltamivir, but cloxacillin, an ingredient in the same class of antibiotics as penicillin. And as if that were not enough, earlier this year the FDA issued a warning about a counterfeit version of the OTC weight-loss product Alli 60-mg capsules (120-count refill pack). A favorite arena for selling this particular product was online auction sites.<br /><br />To put the profitability of fake drugs into perspective, an associate director for global security at Pfizer in Europe reports that the profit margin from counterfeit Viagra is some 10 times higher than that of the street drug heroin. A former FBI agent is quoted as saying, “Instead of punching out ecstasy tablets, counterfeiters can reload pill-producing machinery and make Lipitor.” At a recent drug seizure in Istanbul, investigators nabbed 700,000 fake Viagra pills alongside 51 kg of heroin.<br /></strong></span></em><em><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#000066;"><strong></strong></span></span></em></div><div><em><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#000066;"><strong></strong></span></span></em></div><div><em><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#000066;"><strong><br />It is estimated that the number of lives taken by counterfeit drugs could be as high as a million worldwide. For this reason, it is incumbent on pharmacists to continue warning their patients about the risks of buying drugs on the Internet and to be vigilant about checking the credibility of their suppliers. Fake drugs are real and are not going away anytime soon</strong></span>.<br /><br /></span></em><strong><span style="color:#000000;">The final sentence from Mr. Cohen’s editorial is very encouraging and spot on, clearly the pharmacist, one of the most important healthcare providers to consumers around the globe, is a critical resource in informing the consumer and in making certain that the members of the supply chain maintain high standards in deploying solutions to protect their inventories from fraudulent, adulterated, sub-standard and counterfeit medications.<br /></span></strong><br />To access the editorial in the December 2010 of <strong>US Pharmacist</strong>, visit: <a href="http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight%20talk/i/1281/c/24574/">http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight%20talk/i/1281/c/24574/</a></div><br /><div><br />To learn more about pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting technology, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a> </div><br /><div></div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-50148081273903652132011-01-05T03:55:00.001-05:002011-01-05T03:55:00.138-05:00The Decade of the Counterfeit-Part Two<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TSFLCOQ6eJI/AAAAAAAABWo/MOA9MExV0po/s1600/Open%2BCapsule.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557805916712761490" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TSFLCOQ6eJI/AAAAAAAABWo/MOA9MExV0po/s320/Open%2BCapsule.jpg" /></a><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">The is the second and final installment of a two part opinion blog by Alan Clock, Senior Vice President at XStream Systems, Inc. that was first posted last January on <span style="color:#000000;">Secure Pharma Chain</span>. Part One was posted yesterday.<br /><br /></span></strong>How do we as a society both domestically and globally solve this growing threat and eliminate the danger that looms as its deadly consequence to us all?<br /><br />We now live in a worldwide, global economy. Trade and industry superpowers have emerged beyond the traditional European and North American developed nations. Comprehensively all industries have had enormous movement of production into underdeveloped nations, even those that have a tradition of trade riddled with fraud, counterfeiting and corruption. These countries with well know nefarious sources of supply, now find themselves as a primary producers of everyday consumer products that are in foodstuffs, household goods and medications on the retail shelves of Main Street USA.<br /><br />The reality, unknown by many, is that this counterfeit phenomenon is growing and going well beyond the borders of the undeveloped world. Today, not one product, not one place, not one person is immune from the impact of counterfeit and fraudulent products. It is likely that we will continue to see this counterfeit boom continue unabated indefinitely.<br /><br />How this phenomenon is happening is both complex and simple. This is a global event which adds to its complexity, but it is driven by easy money which is very straightforward to understand.<br /><br />As such, some of the major factors driving the unprecedented proliferation of counterfeit products around the globe decade include:<br /><br /><br />• Global economies and worldwide supply chains. As companies become more global and procure raw materials and contract production overseas due to lower costs and expense, the supply chains become much more difficult to control and monitor. Companies lose control over their production, intellectual property and quality control. Regulatory processes and enforcement in third world countries lag behind the developed world and institutional control. Nefarious vendors can contaminate for quick profit a product by providing poor quality or adulterated raw materials prior to production. Without adequate controls manufacturers, distributors, retailers and consumers find themselves vulnerable to poor quality, contaminated or fraudulent materials. Often by the time an issue is discovered the product is well within distribution, its source difficult to pinpoint with the perpetrators long gone. Unfortunately by that time the impact of the bogus product has been borne by thousands.<br /><br />• Ineffective laws and regulations. As a global economy expands, products move across multiple borders making them increasingly vulnerable and allowing for organizations to take advantage of legal loopholes, breaks in regulatory authority and the ability for law enforcement to adequately monitor movement of goods and services. Penalties for criminal activities also exacerbate the situation. A criminal organization can make more profit with less risk of being caught or with any significant legal ramifications by counterfeiting than almost any other criminal activity. Basically it is easier to counterfeit products, with much less risk and much more profit than in any other legitimate or illegitimate activity.<br /><br />• Growth of the internet and unrestricted, instant access to millions of consumers. In the 21st century, counterfeit organizations can directly or indirectly market and sell their wares online, 24 hours a day in relative anonymity. These organizations can set up websites and fulfill transactions with only a few key strokes and completely camouflage their operation. By the time a regulatory body, law enforcement agency or consumer finds a fake product the marketing source or website and operation is long gone into a hazy cyber world.<br /><br />• The global financial meltdown that occurred in the last half of the decade has caused many retailers and consumers to look at the price of materials, focusing less on quality and authenticity. As incomes and profits fall, so do the standards of the producer or consumer as they scramble to find the products and materials that they rely on. This is a dangerous environment where counterfeit organizations thrive. A perfect scenario for fraudulent activity occurs when members of the supply chain focus on price over cost and fraud. The criminals know that by the time their crime is discovered they have little chance of being held accountable.<br /><br />• The lack of brand protection and security by members of the supply chain. Many manufacturers, distributors and retailers have been slow to realize the huge impact that counterfeit products have and could have to their businesses. Many have had and continue to show a lack of strategy in dealing with this issue, ostensibly because they have not educated themselves on the problem or they do not have the necessary solution to effectively deal with it. Regrettably until most of these organizations face the liability or brand erosion of a catastrophic event caused by fraudulent activity they simply ignore the issue altogether.<br /><br />• The lack of implementation or acceptance of comprehensive solutions to combat counterfeiting. There have been scores of regulatory bodies, legislation and industry groups make attempts to implement comprehensive solutions to counterfeit activities. Most initiatives prove to be ineffective, based on their lack of acceptance, expense and their complicated approach. Functionally most of these solutions are based on a transactional approach. A transactional approach relies on the supply chain to continually interact and exchange data. This constant information exchange in real time is difficult at best and extraordinarily expensive at worst especially when you are dealing with a far reaching, global supply chain.<br /><br />Additionally transactional methods only deal with the product package and not the material or product itself. Some of the largest and most egregious fraud and counterfeit events of the past several years were products that had pristine transactional pedigrees but the product on the inside of the package was adulterated or fraudulent, causing harm to thousands of end use consumers and millions in losses to the brand.<br /><br />To date, most industries seem to have taken a wait-and-see approach driven by the cost of current solutions, which ultimately means that the initiatives die as the events which caused the activity loses momentum over time. The reality is that eventually business leaders within the supply chain have a “hear-no-evil, see-no-evil” attitude as it relates to this issue because they posses few answers and have little to no government or industry leadership to the mandate or guide them.<br /><br />The dilemma of the next decade is how to marshal our resolve as a society globally and properly respond to the multiple factors which have driven this decade of fraudulent, adulterated and counterfeit products that have proliferated in the 21st century.<br /><br />First and foremost, to win this battle, there needs to be a universal awareness of how prevalent and how dangerous this issue actually has become. Consumer’s awareness and their rejection of products that are not vetted and authenticated is critical.<br /><br />Additionally, regulatory authorities across the globe need to be motivated, synchronized and resourced appropriately so as to eliminate the shadows and safe havens that allow counterfeiters to thrive.<br /><br />Finally, industry and supply chains need to understand and realize the profit, loss and liability that exist if they do not deal with counterfeits head on. Each of the stakeholders of the consumer supply chain, from corporations to consumer, need to push for sophisticated solutions and eliminate this potentially deadly threat.<br /><br />Vital to these three primary steps is the realization from all; manufacturer to consumer, is the understanding what this counterfeiting is currently, but what it can become if not properly addressed.<br /><br />Most ominous is the potential for counterfeiting to evolve beyond the simple criminal act to becoming a massive terror threat is very real. As it stands today, millions die each year from individual criminal counterfeit acts, if done with a coordinated murderous intent; a terrorist element could comprehensively impact the health and mortality of an entire country or society.<br /><br />Fortunately the solutions are at hand, today there are technologies that can be comprehensively layered to protect the various members of the supply chain, within individual channels to follow transactions, screen materials and authenticate the validity of products at each step of the sequence as it makes its way to the consumer.<br /><br />One such solution is a technology known as EDXRD. This innovative technology allows the user to molecularly screen the product inside its original container without destroying or degrading the product, thus minimizing the need for Track and Trace or transactional solutions. Basically this solution adds functionality from the transactional and looking at the outside of the container to looking inside the container with Molecular Screening. Ultimately, this type of solution provides each member of the supply chain the confidence to know that their inventories safe and efficacious.<br /><br />In the end, layered deployment of technology solutions, consumer awareness and a coordinated regulatory/law enforcement process will be the most effective strategy to lessen this very dangerous, criminal activity. When the criminal elements realize that there is little profit and a realistic chance that they will be held accountable for their actions, the deadly issue of counterfeit and fraudulent products will drastically decline and the Decade of the Counterfeit will become a brief historical story of how technology and public awareness save the day.<br /><br /><strong><em><span style="font-size:78%;">Alan Clock, Senior Vice-President of XStream Systems has over 20 years of pharmaceutical, healthcare and sales distribution experience. Mr. Clock has an impressive track record of promoting comprehensive solutions to healthcare providers, distributors, large corporate entities, group purchasing organizations, employer groups and managed care organizations. He has held senior sales executive and national account roles for major Fortune 100 healthcare industry leaders and has successfully negotiated and sold billions of dollars in multi-year pharmaceutical service, software, equipment, packaging and consulting agreements. </span></em></strong>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-10516649086524553892011-01-04T03:55:00.003-05:002011-01-04T03:55:00.604-05:00The Decade of the Counterfeit-Part One<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TSFJqv5HHHI/AAAAAAAABWY/DdXo_HZCXqU/s1600/Open%2BCapsule.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557804413911243890" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TSFJqv5HHHI/AAAAAAAABWY/DdXo_HZCXqU/s320/Open%2BCapsule.jpg" /></a><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">This is the first installment of a two part opinion blog by Alan Clock, Senior Vice President at XStream Systems, Inc. that was posted last January on</span> Secure Pharma Chain.<br /></strong><br />The first decade of the 21<span style="font-size:85%;">st</span> century could carry many labels given the rise of global terrorism, a bursting housing bubble and a worldwide financial meltdown. However one very appropriate label, albeit lesser known by the masses, would be the Decade of the Counterfeit.<br /><br />Although counterfeit materials and fraudulent supplies have been around for centuries, with the emergence of far reaching global supply chains and an expanding worldwide economy, the criminal activity of producing counterfeit goods have propagated and is impacting a greater number of consumers more than ever before.<br /><br />In modern times counterfeit products go well beyond the conventional bogus purses and knock off apparel that we traditionally associate with this fraudulent activity. The scope and audacity of the contemporary counterfeiter goes well beyond what has traditionally been considered to be a victimless crime.<br /><br />Today’s counterfeit products include every product that is used today. This runs the gamut from commercial aircraft parts to sophisticated electronics, and from consumer goods to food and life saving healthcare products. Counterfeited products include all of the goods that consumers rely upon for their safety and well being. At best, these bogus products fall short of their consumer’s expectation while at worst they threaten a population’s safety and overall health.<br /><br />An insidious example of how counterfeit activity can create a deadly consequence and cause thousands to die is documented by the issue of counterfeit drugs causing drug resistant disease strains in underdeveloped countries in Africa and Asia.<br /><br />With medical science producing drugs that can effectively cure or curb diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS, unscrupulous counterfeiters are producing fake drugs with only a trace of the real drug’s active ingredient. The counterfeiters put only enough of the real ingredients in to fool rudimentary testing processes. The unfortunate side effect of these bogus treatments is that not only do they not provide any therapeutic cure, they actually create more dangerous strains of the disease that are impervious and resistant to the known drug regimens used to treat the illness.<br /><br />The World Health Organization estimates that upwards of 2,000 children per day die as a result of taking counterfeits medications in Africa alone.<br /><br />Well over 1 million children die in Africa and Asia die each year because of counterfeit drug medications.<br /><br />A few global statistics from the World Health Organization regarding pharmaceuticals, even further energizes the debate regarding the label Decade of the Counterfeit:<br /><br />• In 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) conservatively estimates that counterfeit medications will be a $75 billion industry worldwide.<br /><br />• The WHO projects growth of counterfeit medications to be over 12-16% annually, worldwide.<br /><br />• The WHO Reports that globally 10% of Pharmaceuticals are counterfeit, fraudulent or adulterated.<br /><br />How do we as a society both domestically and globally solve this growing threat and eliminate the danger that looms as its deadly consequence to us all?<br /><br /><strong><em><span style="font-size:78%;">Alan Clock, Senior Vice-President of XStream Systems has over 20 years of pharmaceutical, healthcare and sales distribution experience. Mr. Clock has an impressive track record of promoting comprehensive solutions to healthcare providers, distributors, large corporate entities, group purchasing organizations, employer groups and managed care organizations. He has held senior sales executive and national account roles for major Fortune 100 healthcare industry leaders and has successfully negotiated and sold billions of dollars in multi-year pharmaceutical service, software, equipment, packaging and consulting agreements.<br /><br /></span></em><span style="color:#3333ff;">View Part Two of the opinion blog tomorrow on</span> Secure Pharma Chain.</strong>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-8666574055310853242011-01-03T08:14:00.003-05:002011-01-03T20:37:51.038-05:00MD News: Counterfeit Drugs Prove to be an Increasing Problem<strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;"></span></strong><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TSHPyknAonI/AAAAAAAABWw/VHPvRby252A/s1600/physician.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557951882879607410" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TSHPyknAonI/AAAAAAAABWw/VHPvRby252A/s320/physician.jpg" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;"><strong>The economic downturn and continuously rising drug prices can influence consumers to seek cheaper prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs from unauthorized providers and online sources.<br /></strong></span><br /><strong>MD News</strong>, America's leading business and practice management magazine for physicians reports on the Pharmaceutical Security Institute report regarding growth of counterfeit drugs and how physicians need to be counseling their patients on the dangers of bogus medications.<br /><br />Highlighted in the <strong>MD News</strong> story:<br /><br />• The Pharmaceutical Security Institute (PSI) reports that counterfeit drugs have tripled since 2004 to a startling 1,700 incidents worldwide in 2009. It is estimated that the size of the counterfeit drug market ranges from $75 billion to $200 billion each year. PSI suspects this number to likely be much larger since most cases of counterfeit drugs are hard to detect.<br /><br />• Stress to your patients the serious consequences of purchasing counterfeit drugs. These fakes may include too much, too little or none of the ingredients found in the real medications, which could be detrimental to a patient’s health.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">Healthcare professionals need to a primary conduit in informing their patients and the healthcare consumer of the dangers of fraudulent, adulterated, sub-standard and counterfeit drugs. </span></strong><br /></div><br /><p><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">Today more than ever the populations around the globe are all at risk from the effects of the proliferation of these potentially lethal fakes.</span></strong><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;"><br /></span></strong></p><br /><p>To read the entire <strong>MD News</strong> story, visit: <a href="http://www.mdnews.com/news/2010_12/national_dec10_counterfeit-drugs-prove-to-be-an-increasing-problem">http://www.mdnews.com/news/2010_12/national_dec10_counterfeit-drugs-prove-to-be-an-increasing-problem</a><br /><br />To learn more about pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting solutions, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a> </p>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-732585484171300772011-01-02T22:49:00.002-05:002011-01-02T22:55:05.444-05:00Two Part Series: The Decade of the Counterfeit<strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">Starting Tuesday, January 4th,</span> Secure Pharma Chain <span style="color:#3333ff;">will be re-posting a two part series of an opinion blog titled, The Decade of the Counterfeit.</span></strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;"><strong>The piece is authored by Alan Clock, Senior Vice President of XStream Systems a twenty five year veteran of the pharmaceutical supply chain.</strong></span><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Secure Pharma Chain <span style="color:#3333ff;">is re-posting the series given its relevance and timeliness to the issue that the global pharmaceutical supply chain will be facing in 2011 and the coming decade.</span></strong>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-49455928484762429922011-01-01T00:43:00.011-05:002011-01-02T22:37:36.842-05:00Will 2011 Be The Year of the Anti-Counterfeiter?<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TR7JPT1WTaI/AAAAAAAABWI/zVYmE40IK5M/s1600/2011.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557100255081024930" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TR7JPT1WTaI/AAAAAAAABWI/zVYmE40IK5M/s200/2011.jpg" /></a><br /><div><div><div><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;">Several positive signs, point to the new year of 2011 becoming the tipping point in the battle against the deadly scourge of counterfeit drugs?<br /><br /></span></strong>Even though in recent year's it would appear that there have been few significant victories in the war against fake drugs, there are hopeful signs that in the new year there will be a significant tipping point or sea change in this important crusade...<br /><br /></div><ul><li>Governments, law enforcement and regulatory agencies in developed countries are now publicly taking action and proactive steps in stemming the onslaught of the criminal enterprises engaged in counterfeit pharmaceuticals. The actions by the authorities in the developed world are also aiding officials in underdeveloped nations in their efforts. New laws, with well thought out legal direction and meaningful penalties shrink the criminals return and make them more vulnerable.</li><br /><li>The mainstream media outlets are finally recognizing the issue and are now routinely reporting on and informing consumers that this deadly problem impacts the health and well being of people all around the globe. In year's past it was rare to find a story about drug counterfeiting coming from a major media outlet, now it is rare not to have the issue, its enforcement and the consequences not reported on by a major news organization.<br /><br /></li><li>Because of the media attention, consumers are now understanding the scope of the threat and there is evidence that they are using their buying power to encourage the supply chain to take action.</li><br /><li>The pharmaceutical supply chain is becoming more proactive in their recognition of the problem. In the past they have routinely passed the responsibility of adulterated, fraudulent, sub-standard and counterfeit drugs to others in the supply chain not realizing the costs and liability that ultimately gets spread out to all. Not so long ago the status quo and "hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil" was the standard response from industry leaders when the issue of bogus drugs was mentioned. In 2010, there was a collective awakening from manufacturers, distributors and dispensers that hopefully will evolve into a full blown revolution of action.</li><br /><li>Technologies and solutions are coming into into the market that give the supply chain the tools they need to both attack and defend their inventories from the introduction of these dangerous fakes. As these technologies are deployed, the drug counterfeiter will be disadvantaged in introducing his bogus wares onto the consumer.</li></ul><div><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">These are all positive signs but clearly individually or collectively they do not mean that the issue of counterfeit medications will not continue to grow and proliferate or that millions around the globe will not die or have their health negatively impacted. </span></strong></div><div><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">What these signs do mean collectively is that the meaningful pieces of the overall solution of the global epidemic of counterfeit drugs are finally coming together so that true progress can finally begin in earnest.</span></strong></div><div><br /><strong>Cheers to 2011! </strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong><em><span style="font-size:78%;">Alan Clock, Senior Vice President, XStream Systems</span></em></strong></div></div></div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-60249804831533396012010-12-30T07:43:00.003-05:002010-12-30T07:54:19.816-05:00WHO Fears Growing Malaria Drug Resistance May Be Spreading<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TRyAt_ltANI/AAAAAAAABVo/BOwruXAOTIU/s1600/WHO%2Blogo.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 136px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556457567920390354" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TRyAt_ltANI/AAAAAAAABVo/BOwruXAOTIU/s320/WHO%2Blogo.jpg" /></a><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;">WHO officials say counterfeit drugs and poor storage are to blame.</span></strong><br /><br />Ron Corben in the November 28<span style="font-size:85%;">th</span> issue of the <strong>Voice of America News</strong>, reports on a story from the World Health Organization regarding the growing issue of malaria drug resistance in Asia primarily caused by adulterated, fraudulent, sub-standard and counterfeit medications.<br /><br />Highlights from the <strong>Voice of America News</strong> article include:<br /><br />• World Health Organization officials say there are signs of growing drug resistance to mosquito-borne malaria, raising concern millions of people in Asia may be at risk.<br /><br />• The Asia region accounts for more than 60 per cent of the global population at risk of the parasite with the main focus on India, Burma, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.<br /><br />• But World Health Organization officials point to troubling signs a current drug combination based on artemisinin, originally drawn from a Chinese herb, is losing its potency against the malaria parasite.<br /><br />• Artemisinin is largely given to patients in combination with other drugs rather than by itself in a bid to preserve the drug's long term effective strength.<br /><br />• "The place where we are really concerned is on the Cambodian-Thai border," said Eva Marie Christophel a World Health Organization official in the Phillipines. <strong>"It would be disastrous if that spread because there's hardly anything in terms of new drugs in the pipeline for malaria or what is in the pipeline will take years, so we're really very much relying on arthemisinin based combination therapy."<br /><br /></strong>• The World Health Organization is concerned that drug resistance could spread from the Cambodian-Thailand border region to Africa, following a similar pattern with anti-malaria drugs such as cloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in the 1960s and 1970s.<br /><br />• In February 2009, WHO confirmed anti-malarial resistance at the Cambodian-Thailand border. But recent WHO studies found up to 20 per cent of patients at the Burma-Thailand border also showed signs of malarial parasites in the blood after the normal artemisinin combination therapy.<br /><br />• "We noticed years ago that the disappearance time for parasites to disappear from the blood is increasing. Usually they disappear in two days or less," said Dr. Charles Delacollette, coordinator of the Bangkok-based WHO Mekong Malaria Program. "And we observe that there are an increasing proportion of patients showing parasites, still parasites in their blood after two days of artemisinin treatment, which was not the case before."<br /><br />• Dr. Delacollette says the <strong>growing drug resistance is in part due to the sale of substandard and counterfeit drugs. In recent years, authorities cracked down against illegal factories in China. Meanwhile, counterfeit producers have been found elsewhere, including Cambodia and Burma</strong>.<br /><br />• <strong>"Drugs are not quality, the quality of the drugs sold in private sector is selling any kind of drugs which are stored in very bad conditions, so they becoming substandard and also you have sellers which are selling counterfeit - purposely made counterfeit," said Dr. Delacollette.</strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">The crime of adulterated, fraudulent, sub-standard and counterfeit drugs is a dangerous threat to populations around the globe.<br /><br />To think that unscrupulous organized gangs can impact the health and well being of populations around the globe, especially for diseases and maladies that have long since been conquered by the advances in medical science is unconscionable.<br /><br />Unfortunately the issue with malarial drugs is just the beginning of a much larger issue of drug resistant strains of diseases around the world. Drug resistant diseases know no borders and impact all societies, rich and poor.<br /><br />The global supply chain must take proactive measures to protect their inventories from this insidious crime by deploying solutions to track and authenticate their inventories.<br /><br /></span></strong>To read the entire <strong>Voice of America News</strong> story, visit: <a href="http://www.voanews.com/english/news/WHO-fears-growing-malaria-drug-resistance-may-be-spreading---110934814.htmlmalaria-drug-resistance-may-be-spreading---110934814.html">http://www.voanews.com/english/news/WHO-fears-growing-malaria-drug-resistance-may-be-spreading---110934814.htmlmalaria-drug-resistance-may-be-spreading---110934814.html</a><br /><div><br />To learn more about anti-counterfeiting technologies for pharmaceuticals, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a> </div><br /><div></div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-12644077406772087522010-12-28T14:57:00.002-05:002010-12-28T15:03:50.559-05:00North Carolina Man Charged with Conspiring to Sell Fake Viagra<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TRpCih26ouI/AAAAAAAABVg/M8TzSC4QYjw/s1600/Drug%2BDollar%2BSign.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 160px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555826251286618850" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TRpCih26ouI/AAAAAAAABVg/M8TzSC4QYjw/s320/Drug%2BDollar%2BSign.jpg" /></a><br /><div><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;">A 54-year-old North Carolina man was indicted Thursday for transporting and selling hundreds of counterfeit erectile dysfunction pills.</span></strong><br /><br />Cleve R. Wootson Jr. in the December 16<span style="font-size:85%;">th</span> issue of the <strong>Charlotte Observer</strong>, reports on the story of a North Carolina man charged with conspiring and traffic of bogus medications.<br /><br />According to the <strong>Charlotte Observer</strong> story:<br /><br />• Federal authorities say Awni Shuaib Zayyad, 54, of Wilson, has been charged with several counts of trafficking in Viagra and Cialis and with conspiracy to sell counterfeit drugs.<br /><br />• The U.S. Attorney's Office says he sold more than 500 fake Viagra pills on May 25. In August, authorities say, he transported 600 fake Viagra pills and 226 counterfeit Cialis pills.<br /><br />• If convicted, Zayyad faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for trafficking and five years for the conspiracy. He also faces a total fine of $7 million.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">This arrest is a good sign that law enforcement and industry in the United States is becoming more active in pursuing criminals engaged in the potentially lethal felony.<br /><br />For too long now, counterfeit drugs has taken a back seat in enforcement and public awareness.<br /></span></strong></div><br /><div><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">Hopefully consumers and the pharmaceutical supply chain will become more aware and proactive in their approach to dealing with fraudulent, adulterated, sub-standard and counterfeit medications.</span></strong></div><br /><div><br />To read the entire <strong>Charlotte Observer</strong> story, visit: <a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/12/16/1915936/nc-man-charged-with-conspiring.html#ixzz19RArld6L">http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/12/16/1915936/nc-man-charged-with-conspiring.html#ixzz19RArld6L</a></div><br /><div><br />To learn about anti-counterfeiting solutions, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a> </div><br /><div></div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-31633900535939761742010-12-27T04:22:00.000-05:002010-12-27T04:22:00.174-05:00Counterfeit Drugs More Deadly Than Terrorism<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TROh8gbEaBI/AAAAAAAABVQ/MMwAyPxGasw/s1600/Interpol.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 160px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 119px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553960826345646098" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TROh8gbEaBI/AAAAAAAABVQ/MMwAyPxGasw/s320/Interpol.jpg" /></a><br /><div><strong><span style="font-size:180%;color:#000099;">“While 65,000 people have died in the past 40 years as a result of terrorism, fake medicine has killed 200,000 people in China in one year alone.”<br /></span></strong><br /><strong>Interpol Secretary-General Ronald Noble quoted in a presentation at an anti-counterfeiting conference in Africa. </strong></div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-17130698201261624132010-12-26T05:42:00.001-05:002010-12-26T05:42:00.612-05:00Thieves Commandeer Pharmaceutical Delivery Truck and Abduct Driver<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TRNFxs-W3dI/AAAAAAAABVE/iBc-R_dsTa8/s1600/Delivery-Truck.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 132px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553859485666565586" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TRNFxs-W3dI/AAAAAAAABVE/iBc-R_dsTa8/s200/Delivery-Truck.jpg" /></a><br /><div><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;">Police report of another pharmaceutical shipment hijacked by gunmen.<br /><br /></span>The Baltimore Sun</strong> reports on the story of a pharmaceutical delivery driver who was abducted December 13<span style="font-size:85%;">th</span> while making his deliveries in Baltimore by thieves who made off with a truckload of drug products<br /><br />Highlights from <strong>The Baltimore Sun</strong> article include:<br /><br />• Police called the morning heist “incredibly thought-out,” and were looking for three suspects.<br /><br />• The 55-year-old driver was forced at gunpoint into the back of his delivery truck and transported to an unknown location where the suspects unloaded about 80 crates of drug products.<br /><br />• “The value of the drugs is significant,” said Baltimore Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, who said he could not place a dollar figure. “We believe the individuals responsible might have had knowledge about where and when the truck was going to be.”<br /><br />• Guglielmi said police were in contact with the local FBI and DEA.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">Clearly theft of prescription pharmaceuticals is proliferating given the high value and additional profitability of both the product and their packaging.<br /><br />Organized criminal gangs are seizing the high profits and relative low risk in the criminal activity of pharmaceutical theft and drug counterfeiting.<br /><br />The crime is has a double return to the criminal-prescription drugs are a valuable commodity and their packaging, used in the introduction of fraudulent, adulterated or counterfeit goods carries equal significance.<br /><br />Members of the pharmaceutical supply chain must be on guard to protect their inventories from theft and fraudulent, adulterated, sub-standard and counterfeit drugs.<br /><br />Consumers need to be made more aware of the prevalence and danger of bogus medications.<br /><br /></span></strong>To read the entire <strong>Baltimore Sun</strong> article, visit: <a href="http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/blog/2010/12/thieves_commandeer_pharmaceuti.html">http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/blog/2010/12/thieves_commandeer_pharmaceuti.html</a><br /><br />To learn more about pharmaceutical supply chain safety solutions, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a> </div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-78089588100186706172010-12-25T05:56:00.000-05:002010-12-25T05:56:00.760-05:00SecuringPharma: Survey Results Suggest Drug Counterfeiting is on the Rise<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TRSoNKqKFkI/AAAAAAAABVY/P2OChoKU_x4/s1600/Securing%2BPharma%2BLogo.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 108px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 125px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554249184607606338" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TRSoNKqKFkI/AAAAAAAABVY/P2OChoKU_x4/s200/Securing%2BPharma%2BLogo.jpg" /></a><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;">A survey of 1,000 specialists in pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting measures surveyed have suggested that faking of medicines will become increasingly severe in the coming years, and that drugmakers will invest more in defensive measures.<br /></span></strong><br /><strong>SecuringPharma</strong>, in a December 24<span style="font-size:85%;">th</span> post, reports on a survey that was created as a part of the pre-conference research for IQPC's Pharmaceutical Anti-Counterfeiting conference to be held in Amsterdam on February 15<span style="font-size:85%;">th</span>-17<span style="font-size:85%;">th</span>.<br /><br />According to the <strong>SecuringPharma</strong> post:<br /><br />• Almost <strong>two third of those polled in the survey (61.5 per cent) expected the threat of counterfeiting to increase in 2011</strong>, while <strong>more than half (53.8 per cent) said they were planning to increase their budget for investment in anti-counterfeiting area</strong>.<br /><br />• <strong>With regard to the anti-counterfeiting technology they were using, just 53 per cent indicated they were satisfied with it and 23 per cent said they were not content with their current protection</strong>.<br /><br />• <strong>A vast majority (84 per cent) said that they were looking to invest in new anti-counterfeiting measures</strong>, according to Pharma IQ, a division of conference organiser IQPC which carried out the poll.<br /><br />• Emerging markets in Asia - and especially China - were perceived as the major source of the anti-counterfeit drugs by half of the respondents.<br /><br />• <strong>21 per cent cited the Internet as the major threat for the pharmaceutical market in the context of counterfeiting</strong>, with around the same proportion identifying organised crime as their top concern.<br /><br />• On a positive note, while the results indicated that the perceived threat of counterfeit medicines was significant, <strong>most of those polled (84.6 per cent) said they believed it is possible to win the war with pharmaceutical counterfeiters</strong>.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">The results of the survey are in line with all of the most recent media reports and statistics that are emerging at the close of 2010. The criminal enterprise of drug counterfeiting is on the rise and the threat to supply chains and populations around the world is very real.<br /><br />Of comfort is the increased realization and reaction by governments, industry and consumers of this threat. In the past most members of the supply chain were looking for government mandates before moving to protect their inventories. Based on this survey it would appear that they are now in a more proactive mindset.<br /><br />Ultimately it is incumbent on the supply chain members and the consumer to be vigilant in protecting themselves from this threat.<br /></span></strong><br />To read the entire <strong>SecuringPharma</strong> post, visit: <a href="http://www.securingpharma.com/40/articles/815.php">http://www.securingpharma.com/40/articles/815.php</a><br /><div><br />To learn more about the IQPC Pharmaceutical Anti-Counterfeiting Conference, visit: <a href="http://www.pharmaceuticalanticounterfeiting.com/Event.aspx?id=405182">http://www.pharmaceuticalanticounterfeiting.com/Event.aspx?id=405182</a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>To learn more about anti-counterfeiting technologies for pharmaceuticals, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-46883971336519450382010-12-24T03:58:00.002-05:002010-12-24T03:58:00.258-05:00Happy Holidays from Secure Pharma Chain Blog<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TRKtl5bmBBI/AAAAAAAABU8/WHMg1p9agr0/s1600/Holiday%2BDecor.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 269px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553692157084566546" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TRKtl5bmBBI/AAAAAAAABU8/WHMg1p9agr0/s400/Holiday%2BDecor.jpg" /></a><br /><div><br /><strong><span style="font-size:180%;color:#006600;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The Team at Secure Pharma Chain Blog wishes everyone a Happy Holiday and a Prosperous, Safe and <em>Secure</em> New Year!</span> </span></strong></div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-13990786904915984372010-12-22T20:36:00.006-05:002010-12-23T08:00:14.700-05:00The Fake Drug Menace<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TRKqQclQE1I/AAAAAAAABU0/BBeTauOWSHI/s1600/Counterfeit%2BDrugs%2B2.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 157px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553688490028307282" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TRKqQclQE1I/AAAAAAAABU0/BBeTauOWSHI/s200/Counterfeit%2BDrugs%2B2.jpg" /></a><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;">In China Counterfeiters are turning out bogus 'life-saving' medicines</span></strong>.<br /><br />In Part 1 of a two-part special report, <strong>Straits Times</strong> correspondent Grace Ng focus on the huge underground trade in China of fake pharmaceutical drugs and the dangers it poses to the population.<br /><br />Ms. Ng writes an excellent essay with personal stories, statistics and examples of the danger posed to the consumer.<br /><br />Some of the highlights of Ms. Ng’s story include:<br /><br />• The estimate from the US-based <strong>Centre for Medicine in the Public Interest shows global sales of counterfeit drugs almost doubling in the past five years</strong>.<br /><br />• The World Health Organisation also believes that <strong>in some developing regions, more than 30 per cent of medications sold are fake. Online retailing has only made it worse: As much as half of what is offered online could be fake.<br /><br /></strong>• Interpol secretary-general Ronald Noble has described this trade as more deadly than terrorism. <span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>While 65,000 people have died in the past 40 years as a result of terrorism, fake medicine has killed 200,000 people in China in one year alone,</strong> <span style="color:#000000;">he said at a recent conference on anti-counterfeiting in Africa</span></span><span style="color:#000000;">.<br /><br /></span>• <strong>The world's second largest economy [China] is also one of the main sources - possibly the biggest - of counterfeit drugs</strong>.<br /><br />• <strong>A significant share of the revenue from the global sale of fake drugs is pocketed by Chinese manufacturers, who are becoming increasingly savvy in exploiting online sales and technology to grow their business</strong>.<br /><br />• <strong>Chinese counterfeiting syndicates used to make most of their money from sales in Africa, inundating countries like Nigeria with fake anti-malarial drugs that were labeled 'Made in India'.</strong><br /><br />• Investigations have also revealed the technological savviness and sophistication of Chinese manufacturers. Not only do they have the laser printers and chemical labs to churn out perfect replicas of genuine drug packaging, down to the holograms, but they are also using major websites to market their wares aggressively.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">As this outstanding article points out, China has become the epicenter of bogus medications and the threat to consumers’ world wide continues to grow.<br /><br />Consumers around the globe must be made aware of the very real threat to their health and well being while members of the pharmaceutical supply chains must take proactive efforts to protect their brands and inventories.<br /></span></strong><br />To view the entire <strong>Straits Times</strong> story, visit: <a href="http://admpreview.straitstimes.com:90/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=29b07cac3afec210VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=f511758920e39010VgnVCM1000000a35010aRCRD">http://admpreview.straitstimes.com:90/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=29b07cac3afec210VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=f511758920e39010VgnVCM1000000a35010aRCRD</a><br /><br /><br />To learn about solutions used to combat counterfeit medications, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-45427506631917217442010-12-21T04:05:00.000-05:002010-12-21T04:05:00.495-05:00Pharmacists Caught Selling Fake Viagra<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQ7JDNmm2RI/AAAAAAAABUs/0JW2TuyxHp8/s1600/South%2BKorean%2BFlag.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552596447622781202" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQ7JDNmm2RI/AAAAAAAABUs/0JW2TuyxHp8/s200/South%2BKorean%2BFlag.jpg" /></a> <span style="color:#3333ff;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Fake Viagra Imported from China.<br /></strong><br /></span></span>Park Si-soo in the <strong>Korea Times</strong> reports on a group of pharmacists in Seoul, South Korea who were charged with selling counterfeit drugs.<br /><br />According to the <strong>Korea Times</strong> article:<br /><br />• A group of pharmacists were caught selling fake Viagra pills imported from China.<br /><br />• The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said 15 pharmacists were booked on suspicion of selling the fake pills that could cause consumers to die of a heart attack in the worst case.<br /><br />• Each pill was purchased for 2,000 won and resold to consumers for 15,000-18,000 won each.<br /><br />• Experts called for a tough crackdown on the circulation of fake Viagra pills.<br /><br />• Offenders without a prior criminal record face a fine of up to 5 million won or a business suspension for up to 15 days.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">Clearly the selling of dangerous, potentially deadly counterfeit drugs by healthcare professionals to their unsuspecting patients is troubling.<br /><br />Especially troubling is the light penalties for those convicted of this potentially lethal criminal act.<br /></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">When pharmacists, healthcare providers or members of the supply chain have few legal barriers or no imposing penalties to protect their inventories from bogus drugs, the potential for the introduction of fraudulent, adulterated, sub-standard and counterfeit drugs into the legitimate pharmaceutical supply chain increases significantly.<br /><br />The proliferation of fraudulent, adulterated, sub-standard and counterfeit drugs has become one of the most lethal criminal acts and healthcare epidemics in the 21st century. All members of the pharmaceutical supply chain-regulators, raw material providers, manufacturers, distributors and providers-must take proactive steps in protecting the consumer from these lethal fakes.<br /><br /></span></strong>To read the entire <strong>Korea Times</strong> article, visit: <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/12/113_77963.html">http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/12/113_77963.html</a><br /><br /><br /><div><br />To learn more about anti-counterfeiting technologies, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a> </div><br /><br /><div></div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-48975733081780505142010-12-19T08:20:00.004-05:002010-12-19T08:30:48.049-05:00Details on the Memphis Pharmaceutical Distribution Center Hijacking<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQ4IgluAfXI/AAAAAAAABUc/mZC7hLJaReU/s1600/Hijacking.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 120px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 160px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552384746568318322" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQ4IgluAfXI/AAAAAAAABUc/mZC7hLJaReU/s320/Hijacking.jpg" /></a><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;">Two men are in custody, one man still at large in hijacking that occurred early Friday.<br /><br /></span></strong>According to an article written by Scott Carroll which appeared in the December 19<span style="font-size:85%;">th</span> edition of the <strong>Memphis Commercial Appeal</strong>:<br /><br />• Two men are in jail and another remains at large following a hijacking early Friday in which gunmen robbed eight employees and stole vans containing $200,000 worth of pharmaceuticals from a South Memphis distribution center.<br /><br />• Ralph Jones, 22, and Patrick Dotson, 20, each were charged with eight counts of aggravated robbery, eight counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated assault for the robbery of Hackbarth Delivery Service.<br /><br />• The incident began around 5 a.m., as the loading dock doors were opening. The three gunmen confronted eight Hackbarth employees and demanded money, cell phones and personal items before forcing them to load three company vans with prescription drugs, according to a police affidavit.<br /><br />• Employees told investigators they were then stripped of their clothes and locked in a fenced area.<br /><br />• Hidden tracking devices embedded in the pharmaceutical products led police later that day to a house at 1279 College, where they recovered two of the vans and arrested Jones and Dotson.<br /><br />• Dotson gave a statement of confession to police in which he implicated Jones, police said. Both are being held on bonds of $1 million.<br /><br />• A Memphis Police Department spokesman said no information on the third gunman, who is still at large, was available Saturday.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">The value of pharmaceutical drugs as both a high value commodity for their contents and for their packaging-which is used in drug counterfeiting-has made the theft of prescription drugs one of the more profitable and prolific crimes of the 21st century.<br /><br />Consumers need to be made aware of the danger that this crime imposes on their safety and buy and consume medications only from known legitimate health care professionals.<br /><br />Members of the supply chain need to take proactive measures to protect their inventories from theft, adulteration, fraud, sub-standard and counterfeit drugs.<br /></span></strong><br />To read the entire <strong>Commercial Appeal</strong> article, visit: <a href="http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/dec/19/2-charged-in-theft-of-vans-full-of-drugs/">http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/dec/19/2-charged-in-theft-of-vans-full-of-drugs/</a><br /><br />To learn about pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting solutions, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-60777096812168311222010-12-19T05:35:00.003-05:002010-12-19T07:54:41.319-05:00Drug Topics: Counterfeit Drug War Continues, Threatens Supply Chain<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQwfOTQ3jiI/AAAAAAAABUU/ELgWOmDWm30/s1600/Drug%2BTopics%2BCover%2B12-2010.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 195px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 210px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551846771190631970" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQwfOTQ3jiI/AAAAAAAABUU/ELgWOmDWm30/s320/Drug%2BTopics%2BCover%2B12-2010.jpg" /></a><br /><div><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;">Kathryn Foxhall writes an outstanding article in <span style="color:#000000;">Drug Topics</span> on new efforts by federal authorities to attack the growing issue of counterfeit medications.<br /><br /></span></strong>The article includes industry insight and relevant statistics. Highlights of Ms. Foxhall’s <strong>Drug Topics</strong> article include:<br /><br />• To jump-start efforts to deal with supply-chain threats that include counterfeiting, economically motivated adulteration, diversion, and cargo thefts, FDA is creating a new Drug Integrity and Security Program within the Office of Compliance of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.<br /><br />• FDA is developing standards for track-and-trace and authentication systems that would enable the identification of substandard prescription drugs as they move along the supply chain.<br /><br />• The counterfeiters are winning the global counterfeit drug war, with counterfeit medications more abundant than ever before, according to Jeffrey Gren, director of the Office of Health and Consumer Goods in the U.S. Department of Commerce.<br /><br />• According to FDA, Gren said, 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) in drugs consumed in the United States come from other countries, mostly from nations that don't have sophisticated regulatory regimes. An API, he said, "may come from China, it may be packaged in the Middle East, it may be sent through Brazil; ultimately it makes it to the United States or other parts of the world," making the problem difficult to solve.<br /><br />• Nancy Kennedy, senior operations manager of drug investigations in FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations, said that <strong>some years ago imported, unapproved, and counterfeit drugs came into the United States addressed to individuals or packaged in small quantities. Then quantities increased, and counterfeits started going to drop-shippers and distributors working from online pharmacy operations. "Now we see quantities of these drugs coming in and going directly to doctors, clinics, brick-and-mortar-pharmacies— and these are for use and distribution directly to patients,"</strong> Kennedy said.<br /><br />• Kennedy said that for some time Congress and others have been saying, "Show us the bodies." But there may not be many bodies at one time, she said, unless an event occurs such as the mass poisonings that have happened in other countries.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">With the pharmaceutical supply chain threatened by dangerous fakes from all over the globe, it is vital for the supply chain to take proactive steps to protect itself and not wait for regulatory mandates or law enforcement action. </span></strong></div><br /><div><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;"></span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">Deploying technologies, solutions and best practices protect both the supply channel and the consumer. </span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;"></span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;"></span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;"><br />Businesses that take these proactive steps will be able to differentiate themselves and will be in a prepared protected position <em><span style="color:#000099;">when</span></em> there is a large counterfeit drug incident within the supply chain.<br /><br /></span></strong>To read the entire <strong>Drug Topics</strong> article, visit: <a href="http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drugtopics/Modern+Medicine+Now/Counterfeit-drug-war-continues-threatens-supply-ch/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/699610?contextCategoryId=40159">http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drugtopics/Modern+Medicine+Now/Counterfeit-drug-war-continues-threatens-supply-ch/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/699610?contextCategoryId=40159</a><br /></div><br /><div>To learn about pharmaceutical supply chain solutions, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a> </div><br /><div></div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-77249841680766770672010-12-17T20:51:00.004-05:002010-12-18T07:14:18.304-05:00FreightWatch: Armed Hijacking at Pharmaceutical Distribution Center<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQwVYKfJLhI/AAAAAAAABUM/vump_OwjYRU/s1600/Hijacking.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 120px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 160px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551835945517002258" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQwVYKfJLhI/AAAAAAAABUM/vump_OwjYRU/s320/Hijacking.jpg" /></a><br /><div><span style="color:#ff0000;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Gunmen hijack delivery vans at a pharmaceutical distribution center, police recover product and apprehend the suspects.</strong><br /><br /></span></span><strong>FreightWatch International</strong>, an industry leader in providing cargo theft intelligence released a news bulletin regarding the armed hijacking of a pharmaceutical distribution center.<br /><br />According to the bulletin:<br /><br />• Three armed men entered a pharmaceutical distribution facility as the dock doors were rolled up in the early hours of December 17, in Memphis, Tennessee.<br /><br />• The armed men held 9 people at gunpoint and proceeded to drive away with three delivery vans full of product.<br /><br />• Through the use of redundant covert tracking devices embedded in the pharmaceutical products, the suspects and product were tracked to a house where police were able to recover the product and apprehend several of the suspects.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">Pharmaceuticals have become a valuable currency and organized gangs realize the high profitability in the theft, adulteration, fraud and counterfeiting of all medications.<br /><br />All members of the pharmaceutical supply chain must take proactive steps to protect their inventories from theft, adulteration and counterfeited products.<br /><br /></span></strong>To read the entire bulletin from <strong>Freightwatch International</strong>, visit:<br /><a href="http://www.freightwatchintl.com/">http://www.freightwatchintl.com/</a></div><br /><div><br />To learn more about pharmaceutical material screening technologies, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a> </div><br /><div></div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-348412131507141162010-12-17T03:20:00.002-05:002010-12-17T05:17:44.074-05:0036 Million Americans Have Bought Rx’s From Illegal Online Pharmacies<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQpoR3TVaQI/AAAAAAAABUE/sL-Hj2ZZNMg/s1600/Rx%2BBottles.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 160px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551364146799667458" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQpoR3TVaQI/AAAAAAAABUE/sL-Hj2ZZNMg/s320/Rx%2BBottles.jpg" /></a><span style="color:#3333ff;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Tens of millions of Americans have bought medications online without a prescription, according to a new study.</strong><br /></span></span><br /><br />Alaric DeArment in <strong>Drug Store News</strong> writes about a study funded by the Alliance for Save Online Pharmacies and released by The Partnership at DrugFree.org, which finds that illegal online pharmacies have sold drugs to 36 million Americans.<br /><br />According to the <strong>Drug Store News</strong> story:<br /><br />• Many independent and chain retail pharmacies operate websites and there also are reputable online pharmacies, such as Drugstore.com. However, a number of illegal online pharmacies also exist, and buying drugs from them opens consumers to the risk of taking counterfeit, adulterated or unapproved medications.<br /><br />• “Those who sell prescription drugs online without a valid prescription are operating illegally, undercutting the laws that were put in place to protect patients, and are thereby endangering the public health,” U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator Victoria Espinel said. “It is a real wake-up call that so many Americans have engaged in this dangerous behavior.”<br /><br />• At the White House Intellectual Property Health and Safety Forum on Tuesday, Espinel said 11 companies had joined to create a nonprofit group designed to target illegal online pharmacies, including American Express, Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, eNom, Google, Microsoft, Neustar, Network Solutions, Yahoo! and Go Daddy.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">The purchase of drugs from illegal online sites is a dangerous practice that impacts the health and safety of entire consumer populations.<br /><br />With these illegal purchases, the consumer is potentially bringing dangerous fakes into the legitimate supply chain. It is critical that all members of the legitimate pharmaceutical supply chain take measures to protect themselves from these dangerous sources of supply.<br /><br /></span></strong>To read the <strong>Drug Store News</strong> story, visit: <a href="http://www.drugstorenews.com/article/companies-band-together-end-illegal-online-pharmacies">http://www.drugstorenews.com/article/companies-band-together-end-illegal-online-pharmacies</a><br /><br />To learn more about anti-counterfeiting technologies, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-73951462219155464882010-12-16T12:00:00.004-05:002010-12-17T08:16:09.639-05:00Illinois Man Charged in Counterfeit Drug Bust<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQpG9aRo2RI/AAAAAAAABT8/zeg2QRXm4q4/s1600/Handcuffs.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 108px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551327511526824210" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQpG9aRo2RI/AAAAAAAABT8/zeg2QRXm4q4/s320/Handcuffs.jpg" /></a><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;">Thousands of fake valium found in an Illinois business after FDA and CBP intercept a United States Postal Service package.<br /></span></strong><br />Authorities charged an Illinois businessman with unlawful possession of a controlled substance after authorities discovered a package, sent to his address, contained bogus drugs.<br /><br />According to a report from <strong>Sun-Times Media</strong> story:<br /><br />• Bond has been set at $30,000 for a Naperville man found in possession of thousands of counterfeit Valium pills, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s office announced Monday.<br /><br />• Amin Rupani, 40, of the 2600 block of Salix Circle in Naperville, has been charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a release from the sheriff’s office said. He was arrested at his computer business, Precision Technologies.<br /><br />• The Sheriff’s Police Special Operations Unit began its investigation into Rupani’s activities after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, detained a package containing counterfeit Valium pills. The 20,000 pills packed inside plastic containers had Rupani’s business address, but a fake name.<br /><br />• On Dec. 9, sheriff’s office investigators, along with agents from the FDA and the U.S. Postal Service, wired the Valium package with a monitoring and tracking device and conducted a controlled delivery to Rupani’s office. When officers received a radio transmission signal that the package had been opened, they entered the business and placed Rupani under arrest.<br /><br />• Rupani told investigators he received the packages from a friend who lives in Karachi, Pakistan, and that he was told the pills were vitamins and weight loss drugs. Forensic tests of the seized pills show they contain the active ingredient in Valium, but they were manufactured by a criminal enterprise in China. The estimated street value of the drugs is $200,000.<br /><br />• Rupani admitted he forwarded the packages sent by his co-conspirator to addresses in Texas and California on a regular basis, using his company’s UPS account. After a search of Rupani’s business, officers also recovered nine plastic bags containing an estimated 20,000 light green triangular pills, suspected counterfeit Xanax, and a box of diet pills.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">Kudos to the FDA and CBP for the interception of this particular shipment but it begs the question as to the extent of the greater issue of these types of dangerous fakes within the pharmaceutical supply chain.<br /><br />Certainly this particular bust must be but a tiny fraction of a much larger pipeline of counterfeit drugs that are introduced into the United States each day.<br /><br />This type of crime is proliferating at an epic pace given the high profits and extremely low risk of getting caught or doing time. In this particular instance because the fakes were of a controlled substance, the suspect may be in for a significant penalty, however those that fake prescription drugs like Viagra have fewer penalties.<br /><br />Members of the legitimate pharmaceutical supply chain must take proactive measures from these types of deadly fake products ending up in their inventories</span></strong>.<br /><br />To read the entire <strong>Sun-Times Media</strong> story, visit: <a href="http://napervillesun.suntimes.com/news/crime/2828874-418/rupani-pills-valium-business-office.html">http://napervillesun.suntimes.com/news/crime/2828874-418/rupani-pills-valium-business-office.html</a><br /><div><br />To learn more about anti-counterfeiting technologies for the pharmaceutical supply chain, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a></div><br /><div></div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-69700123638251225502010-12-15T04:58:00.001-05:002010-12-15T09:58:23.152-05:00Freightwatch International: November 2010 Cargo Theft Report<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQfAiy2SNHI/AAAAAAAABT0/dyVrPZDktIQ/s1600/Trucking.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550616769754969202" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQfAiy2SNHI/AAAAAAAABT0/dyVrPZDktIQ/s320/Trucking.jpg" /></a><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3333ff;"><span style="color:#000000;">FreightWatch International</span>, an industry leader in providing cargo theft intelligence through data collection, analysis, and customized reporting, released their monthly report on cargo theft for November 2010.<br /><br /></span>FreightWatch</strong> recorded 70 incidents in November. Prior to the Holiday season, Electronics and Food/Drinks continue to be the most stolen commodities.<br /><br />By location, California, New Jersey and Texas accounted 64% of all the thefts recorded in November with 28, 11, and 6 thefts respectively.<br /><br /><div>This month, an average loss value of $642,371 resulted from the 24 incidents that contained an estimated load value.<br /><br />On November 10, a load of pharmaceuticals worth $10.9 million was stolen a few miles away from its point of origin. The driver left the load unattended for approximately 15 minutes when it was stolen. </div><div> </div><div><span style="color:#3333ff;"><strong><br />The issue of pharmaceutical cargo theft energizes the need for material screening of products within the supply chain, from manufacturer to dispenser, to properly protect consumers everywhere.<br /><br />As the value and prevalence increases, so too does the potential risk to consumers.<br /></strong><br /></span>To read the entire report from <strong>Freightwatch International</strong>, visit:<br /><a href="http://www.freightwatchintl.com/">http://www.freightwatchintl.com/</a></div><br /><div><br />To learn more about pharmaceutical material screening technologies, visit: <a href="http://www.xstreamsystems.net/">http://www.xstreamsystems.net/</a> </div><br /><div></div>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767266519547107045.post-76541526295594366852010-12-14T11:04:00.008-05:002010-12-14T13:55:31.246-05:00FDA: Don’t “Man Up Now”<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQeWAjqZtUI/AAAAAAAABTs/vKaBULSABew/s1600/ManUpNow.png"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px; WIDTH: 155px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 146px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550570002074678594" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3EcdMAlg4/TQeWAjqZtUI/AAAAAAAABTs/vKaBULSABew/s320/ManUpNow.png" /></a><em> </em><div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="FONT-STYLE: normal" class="Apple-style-span"><b><span style="color:#3333ff;">FDA issues warning against supplement marketed for sexual enhancement which contains potentially dangerous ingredient.</span></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></div></span><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">In a government recent press release the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use Man Up Now capsules, marketed as a dietary supplement for sexual enhancement, because they contain a variation of an active drug ingredient found in Viagra that can dangerously lower blood pressure. </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Man Up Now claims to be “herbal” and “all natural,” and consumers may mistakenly assume the product is harmless and poses no health risk.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Consumers who have Man Up Now capsules should stop using them immediately. The FDA analyzed Man Up Now and determined that it contains sulfoaildenafil, a chemical similar to sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra. Like sildenafil, this chemical may interact with prescription drugs such as nitrates, including nitroglycerin, and cause dangerously low blood pressure. When blood pressure drops suddenly, the brain is deprived of an adequate blood supply that can lead to dizziness or lightheadedness.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Man Up Now, distributed by Synergy Distribution LLC, is sold on Internet sites, online marketplaces, and possibly in retail outlets in single, double, and triple blister packs, and in six-, 12-, and 30-count capsule bottles.</div><div><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: normal" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:110;color:#3333ff;"><strong><span style="font-size:100%;">Consumers should take great care when purchasing or taking dietary supplements products, the FDA has found many products marketed for sexual enhancement can be harmful because they contain active ingredients in FDA-approved drugs or variations of these ingredients.</span> </strong></span></span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div>To read the FDA Press Release: <a href="http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm236538.htm">http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm236538.htm</a>xstream teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512949001647266156noreply@blogger.com0