FreightWatch International: December 2009, The Highest Month Ever for Cargo Theft in the US

FreightWatch International, an industry leader in providing cargo theft intelligence through data collection, analysis, and customized reporting, released their monthly report on cargo theft for December 2009.

According to Freightwatch, in the month of December there were over 82 reported cargo thefts. This is the highest number of cargo thefts ever reported by Freightwatch in the United States in a single month.

California, Florida and Texas accounted the highest number of cargo theft incidents. There were 23 theft incidents in California, 13 in Texas and 10 in Florida.

By commodity, the food and drink industry suffered the highest volume of losses with 19. electronics and auto parts continue to remain high with 15 and 11 thefts respectively. FreightWatch also recorded three thefts in the pharmaceutical sector.

The reported pharmaceutical thefts were a December 5th incident in Pennsylvania where over $266,000 of OTC medications were stolen and several separate incidents that occurred on December 13th which occurred in North Carolina and Virginia. These incidents involved the theft of pharmaceutical products, cosmetics and contact lens solution.

This monthly report essentially reinforces many points of the the Secure Pharma Chain Blog of January 1st which commented on Nick Basta’s excellent article in Pharmaceutical Commerce. In this particular article Mr. Basta reported that pharmaceutical cargo theft was becoming a largely organized criminal activity.

To read the entire report from Freightwatch International, visit: http://www.freightwatchintl.com/.

To learn more about supply chain security solutions, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.

Pharmaceutical Cargo Theft Emerges as a Organized Criminal Activity in 2009

In an excellent online article written by Nick Basta in Pharmaceutical Commerce, he explores the expanding issue of pharmaceutical cargo theft and the ongoing efforts to fight against this problem which poses a serious threat to US healthcare consumers. This issue has become more public in 2009.

Basta writes an overview of the issue and covers various Pharma companies, transportation industry solutions and interviews various industry experts.

Highlighting the article were some of the more significant pharmaceutical cargo thefts in 2009:

• Almost 36,000 cartons of albuterol sulfate vials from Dey L.P. (Napa, CA) stolen in early August in McKinney, TX. Dey sent out an announcement advising that “pharmacists are encouraged to verify pedigree documentation for all purchases of Dey-labeled” albuterol.

• Teva Pharmaceuticals lost almost 1,000 cartons of Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) in a theft in April; Copaxone is a temperature-controlled product that must be stored below 74° F and out of sunlight; Teva had to recall the remainder of that lot.


• Novo Nordisk lost 129,000 vials of Levemir (recombinant-DNA insulin) in a North Carolina robbery in the spring. In June, it and FDA announced that the product—which requires refrigerated storage—had shown up in a medical center in Houston; subsequently FDA reported that it “has received multiple reports of patients who suffered an adverse event due to poor control of glucose levels after using a vial from one of the stolen lots.” An August followup reported that the stolen insulin was still showing up and that only 2% of the vials had been accounted for.


• The biggest-value recent theft—which didn’t produce an FDA alert because the product was recovered within minutes of being stolen, occurred along the PA Turnpike in May. An Eli Lilly shipment of insulin valued at $37 million was stolen (along with the truck) at a turnpike rest stop, but the truck was located a few miles down the road by quick-acting state troopers; the shipment was intact and allowed to proceed, according to industry sources.

To read the entire online story, Cargo Theft Emerges as New Biopharm Worry, in Pharmaceutical Commerce, visit: http://www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/frontEnd/1345-pharmaceutical_logistics_theft_in_transit_cargo_security_coalition.html.

To learn more about XStream Systems, onsite supply chain material screening solutions, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.

Pharmaceutical Commerce: FDA Counterfeit Drug Investigations Reach New High in 2009

In the December 23rd online edition of Pharmaceutical Commerce, they reported on the FDA’s statistics on Counterfeit Drug Investigations. It is believed that the number of investigations is an indicator of the increase in counterfeit drug activity and represents a fraction of the overall activity within the United States. The entire online posting appears below:

At the HDMA Track & Trace Seminar (National Harbor, MD, Nov. 30-Dec. 1), David Dorsey, Acting Deputy Administrator for Policy at FDA, revealed the FY 2009 (which ended last September) figure for counterfeit-drug investigations opened by FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations: a new record of 65.

FDA cautions that this count is not a direct measure of the volume of counterfeit activity—but on the other hand, where there’s smoke there’s fire. Dorsey also said that the agency is working toward its mandated March 2010 deadline for making recommendations on a “serial numeric identifier” program for drug tracking, as specified in the FDA Amendments Act of 2007.

Meanwhile, newer legislation, such as the Buyer-Matheson bill from the 2008 session (H.R. 5389) is expected to be re-introduced in the current Congress. That bill would mandate a national track-and-trace system to prevent counterfeiting and diversion.

Visit Pharmaceutical Commerce and read the story online at: www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/frontEnd/1339-counterfeit_drugs_FDA_Office_of_Criminal_Investigations_OCI.html

UPS Supply Chain Survey: Nearly Half Worry about Product Tampering and Counterfeiting

In UPS’s 2nd Annual Supply Chain Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, there was a somewhat surprising discovery as it relates to fraudulent and counterfeit products in the supply chain.

The survey was reported in the June 2009 issue of Pharmaceutical Commerce.

In the survey, decision makers at bio-pharma and med device companies were asked a variety of questions to identify supply chain issues beyond simple transportation and delivery.

The somewhat surprising discovery was that 48% of the large company respondents (companies with revenues in excess of $1 billion annually) while 34% of smaller companies, listed product tampering and counterfeiting as one of their biggest supply chain concerns for the year.

Pharmaceutical Commerce is quoted in the June 2009 issue:

It is worth noting that nearly half (48%) of large-company respondents cited product tampering and counterfeiting as a concern, which belies the relatively quieter scene in drug pedigree, tracking and tracing as a result of the postponement of the pedigree rules in California.

This survey validates much of what XStream Systems is finding in the pharmaceutical supply chain as well. Although much of the pressure has been lifted from the delayed pedigree rules, there is a realization among decision makers that there remains a significant amount of stress with few solutions within the supply chain as it relates to fraudulent, tampered and counterfeit product. To date many key executives have seemingly ignored the threat of increased liability and brand erosion because they have few if any solutions to adequately meet the issue. Pedigree and track and trace technologies although mandated in specific states, provides minimal protection against diverted products but do nothing to decrease their liability and protect their inventories from counterfeiting or tampered products.

XStream Systems, with its revolutionary EDXRD technologies, has a technology solution that enhances the ability of the members of the supply chain to authenticate the product, within its sealed container, without destroying or degrading the medication. This solution, allows the user to authenticate and verify the contents of the product, not just the package and properly secure their inventories and overall liability.

To read the June 2009 article in Pharmaceutical Commerce, visit: http://www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/frontEnd/main.php?idSeccion=1239.

To learn more about XStream Systems and it solution, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.