Are Counterfeit Products Contributing to Drug Resistant Strains of H1N1?

As reported in many media outlets, European physicians and the World Health Organization (WHO) are investigating drug resistant strains of the H1N1 virus.

To date, H1N1 has been effectively treated by anti-viral medication Tamiflu and Relenza.

As also reported in many media outlets and in SecurePharmChainBlog.com there is an emerging proliferation of organized crime organizations making hundreds of millions of dollars by counterfeiting and selling via the Internet the anti-viral drugs used to treat the H1N1 virus.

With the malaria and tuberculosis healthcare epidemics in Africa and Asia, counterfeit medications have been a significant contributor to the increase of drug resistant strains and are a considerable factor in the deaths of hundreds of thousands across the globe. In these incidents, unscrupulous counterfeiters manufacturer medications with just enough of the active ingredient to fool rudimentary testing devices. These counterfeit medications are more than just worthless, they actually facilitate drug resistant strains of the illness.

This begs the question of the correlation and impact on counterfeit drugs to the emergence of drug resistant strains of the H1N1 virus.

Are counterfeit medications contributing to drug resistant strains of the H1N1 virus?

XStream Systems encourages all drug regulatory agencies to utilize robust screening methods in the testing of all medications within the pharmaceutical supply chain. XStream's XT250 allows the end users to deploy as system within the supply chain and materially screen products for active ingredients, excepients and packaging, non-destructively, within its sealed unit-of-sale container.

To learn more about the XT250, visit XStream at: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.

Fox News: Gangs Making 'Millions of Dollars' Selling Fake H1N1 Drugs Online

The Reuters new story was posted on Fox News on November 16, 2009 and deals with the ever increasing issue of counterfeit, fraudulent and adulterated drugs related to the H1N1 pandemic.

Criminal gangs are making millions of dollars out of the H1N1 flu pandemic by selling fake flu drugs over the internet, a web security firm said on Monday.

Sophos, a British security software firm said it had intercepted hundreds of millions of fake pharmaceutical spam adverts and websites this year, many of them trying to sell counterfeit antiviral drugs like Tamiflu to worried customers.

Tamiflu, an antiviral marketed by Switzerland's Roche Holding and known generically as oseltamivir, is the frontline drug recommended by the World Health Organization to treat and slow the progression of flu symptoms. GlaxoSmithKline makes another antiviral for flu, known as Relenza.

Sophos said many of the gangs behind the sites were based in Russia and the top five countries buying fake Tamiflu and other medicines on the internet were the United States, Germany, Britain, Canada and France.

Sophos spokesman Graham Cluley said a "worrying trend" toward stockpiling Tamiflu had already been seen in Britain — Europe's worst-hit country in the H1N1 pandemic so far.

"As more and more cases of swine flu....come to light, it is essential that we all resist the panic-induced temptation to purchase Tamiflu online," he said.

The criminal gangs working behind the scenes at fake internet pharmacies are putting their customers' health, personal information and credit card details at risk."

The Geneva-based WHO, which declared H1N1 swine flu a pandemic in June, updated its guidance to doctors last week to say that antiviral drugs should be given even before tests conclude that an at-risk patient has the pandemic virus.

Sophos said criminal gangs were operating medicines websites branded as the "Canadian Pharmacy" to try to appear genuine.

It said its research showed that on one network operated out of Russia, called Glavmed, it was possible to earn an average of $16,000 a day promoting pharmaceutical websites.

"But the criminals can be members of more than one affiliate network, and some have boasted of earning more than $100,000 per day," it said in a statement.

The pandemic H1N1 flu virus has now spread to 206 countries since it was first discovered in March. There have been more than 6,250 deaths to date, mostly in the Americas region, according to the latest WHO toll.

To view the story on-line visit:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,575327,00.html?test=l

To learn more about pharmaceutical counterfeit solutions, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/

Swine Flu Panic: Beware of Counterfeit Anti-Viral Medications

By: Alan Clock, Senior Vice President, XStream Systems, Inc.

As the world prepares to do battle with the emerging pandemic of Swine Flu, it bears discussing the potential for unscrupulous entities or individuals preying on and taking advantage of the panic for their personal gain.

The global marketplace, already in a deep economic recession is seeing an unprecedented rise in the percentage of counterfeit medications. These counterfeits run the gambit from fake HIV and malarial drugs in Africa and Asia to phony ED and cholesterol drugs in North America and Europe. Even in developed countries, with sophisticated supply chains like the United Kingdom, the statistics are troubling; one in four doctors have already treated patients suffering from the effects of counterfeit medications and their current estimate of percentage of counterfeit medications within the supply chain stands at 10%.

As industry leaders know, when a healthcare panic occurs, supplies of the drugs used to treat the issue become scarce and expensive. Unfortunately drug counterfeiters know that as well.

It does not take long to remember how quickly Cipro became scarce and very expensive during the anthrax scare of 2001.

According to most published reports, basic anti-viral medications seem to work against this particular flu strain for those that are already infected. The proper use of these medications will go a long way in containing and defeating this particular dangerous strain of flu. The brand names of these life saving medications include; Tamiflu, Relenza, Symmetrel and Flumadine.

Realize that the drug counterfeiters of the 21st Century are already producing counterfeit medications. Unfortunately they also have the most efficient and effective way to introduce their fake wares to the consumer at their disposal, the internet. Not only can they create visual facsimiles of the product that they are copying but they can also anonymously sell around the globe without leaving home. Through the internet they can have their fake product shipped to their victim’s doorstep by legitimate means. The counterfeiter also has the luxury of having the money extracted from their victims credit card's into disguised bank accounts. It is very difficult to heed the warning, buyer beware, when can be conned with only a few self-inflicted keystrokes and mouse clicks.

Please heed this important warning: because of the Swine Flu Epidemic anti-viral drugs will become scarce, they will be counterfeited and people will die because they consume these fake drugs.

As a consumer the best way to protect yourself is:

• Only purchase these drugs from a brick and mortar, state approved pharmacy.
• Make sure that you speak with a licensed pharmacist that knows your medical history.

Never buy pharmaceuticals from an internet site that is not affiliated with a state licensed pharmacy and that does not require a physician’s prescription.

If you are a supplier or provider within the pharmaceutical supply chain, XStream recommends:>

• You verify and authenticate your anti-viral medications and inventories through its transactional pedigree.
• You verify and authenticate your anti-viral medications and inventories through material authentication.
• By no means should you accept receivables into your inventories from unknown sources.
• You should not accept return goods products on these specific medications.
• Providers should realize that they are the only barrier to these fake drugs and the consumer, they should remain their professional integrity and diligence.
  
  The best advice for all involved during this scare is for both the consumer and the suppliers to use common sense and understand the dangers that lurk from the panic can come from other sources outside of the actual disease.