North Carolina Man Charged with Conspiring to Sell Fake Viagra

A 54-year-old North Carolina man was indicted Thursday for transporting and selling hundreds of counterfeit erectile dysfunction pills.

Cleve R. Wootson Jr. in the December 16th issue of the Charlotte Observer, reports on the story of a North Carolina man charged with conspiring and traffic of bogus medications.

According to the Charlotte Observer story:

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

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.

For too long now, counterfeit drugs has taken a back seat in enforcement and public awareness.

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.

To read the entire Charlotte Observer story, visit: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/12/16/1915936/nc-man-charged-with-conspiring.html#ixzz19RArld6L

To learn about anti-counterfeiting solutions, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/

ICE: Chinese Counterfeit Drug Distributor Sentenced to Prison

Chinese national convicted of dealing in counterfeit drugs in Texas sentenced to prison and deportation.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a press release on November 15th detailing the sentence of 12 months and a day in prison for conspiring to distribute counterfeit pharmaceuticals, and trafficking in pharmaceuticals with false labeling and counterfeit trademarks to Kum Leung Chow.

The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno, Southern District of Texas.

Kum Leung Chow, aka Lawrence Chow, 59, pleaded guilty to the federal charges on June 28 and sentenced on Monday to 12 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt. Chow was arrested on Jan. 27 and has been in federal custody since that date and will remain in custody to serve out his sentence. Chow is subject to deportation after he completes his sentence.

The ICE HSI investigation began in January 2009 and revealed that Chow used a Hong Kong-based company named Kingdom International Enterprises LTD to obtain and distribute counterfeit Viagra and Cialis pharmaceutical drugs in the United States. Viagra and Cialis are prescription drugs that are FDA-approved and used to treat erectile dysfunction. They are registered trademarks on the principal register in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Viagra is manufactured and distributed exclusively by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, while Cialis is manufactured and distributed exclusively by Eli Lilly.

Chow offered boxes containing four Viagra tablets and boxes containing eight Cialis tablets for $10 a box on two Internet websites. The retail cost for each Viagra tablet is about $20, while each Cialis tablet is about $15.20. Working in an undercover capacity, ICE agents purchased about 1,120 Viagra tablets and about 360 Cialis tablets from Chow via the Internet on March 25, 2009, and April 28, 2009. Shipping documents accompanying the pharmaceuticals indicated they were exported from mainland China and Hong Kong.

The pharmaceuticals were later analyzed by the trademark holders and the FDA Forensic Chemistry Center which indicated the pharmaceuticals were counterfeit. These counterfeit pharmaceutical products may have harmed the public if law enforcement were not involved in monitoring the Internet.

Chow has been in federal custody since he was arrested Jan. 27; he will remain in custody to serve out his sentence.

The investigation of Chow was conducted by agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel Louis, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted the case.

Continued enhanced enforcement is critical in dealing with the deadly criminal act of counterfeit medications.

All stakeholders of the pharmaceutical supply chain must take steps from bogus drugs ending up in their inventories.

To read the entire ICE Press Release, visit: http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1011/101115houston.htm

To learn about technologies that can detect fraudulent and counterfeit drugs inside their sealed container, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.

Health Day: Dangers Lurk in Impotence Drugs Sold on Web

"Study finds many contain toxins, or too much/too little of the active ingredient."

Amanda Gardner in Health Day reports on a new South Korean study warning of the dangers of buying erectile dysfunction drugs over the internet.

The new study, which was conducted in South Korea and is being presented at the American Urological Association annual meeting in San Francisco, “finds that not only can these knock-off drugs be contaminated, they may contain too much of the active ingredient or none at all. The drugs could especially be dangerous for men with hypertension or heart disease, the study found.”

The following are the highlights from Ms. Gardner’s story:

· "There are lots of rip-offs," said Dr. John Morley, director of geriatrics and acting director of endocrinology at Saint Louis University. "There's still a lot of evidence that many of the things you buy off the Internet without going through a regular pharmacy might appear cheaper or better but they're usually not and they usually don't work."

· "Men who have sexual dysfunction are prepared to try anything and they do try a large number of bizarre things," said Morley. "They try all the Viagra look-alikes, so people are going to buy them."

· In the study, the South Korean team compared 19 counterfeit erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs against prescription Viagra, obtained directly from Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and Cialis, provided by Lilly.

· About one-third of the counterfeit pills actually differed in size from the real thing, while 42 percent differed in color.

· Fifty-eight percent had too much active ingredient, sometimes as much as 2.4 times more, while 3 percent had no active ingredient at all.

· Some contained unapproved compounds intended to promote an erection.

· Only one of the counterfeit drugs contained "proper active ingredients," the researchers stated. Some contained potential toxins, including mercury and lead.

· Even genuine Viagra has risks, experts note, especially for men who take nitrates for chest pain. And there could be drug interactions with both real and fake ED drugs.

· "All these drugs have side effects and that's probably the big reason why patients should be getting them through a physician," Morley said. "While these things may be cheaper, they potentially have much greater side effects."

The study reinforces the deadly issue of fraudulent, adulterated and counterfeit medications which seem to proliferate on the internet and ultimately lead to the contamination of the legitimate pharmaceutical supply chain.

Secure Pharma Chain Blog, recommends that all members of the pharmaceutical supply chain use a variety of technologies and solutions to protect their inventories from fraudulent medications.

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

Read the entire Health Day article, visit: http://healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=639623.

Canadian Gold Medal Paralympian Arrested for Counterfeit Drugs

The Globe and Mail are reporting on a story of the Gold Medal Skip or Captain of the 2010 Canadian Paralympics Curling Team being arrested in the United States on charges of trafficking in counterfeit drugs.

According to Washington State court records, Jim Armstrong of Richmond, BC was arrested in Blaine, Washington while trying to pick up a package of thousands of counterfeit Viagra and Cialis pills.

The court complaint, filed April 16, said Mr. Armstrong “caused the introduction into interstate commerce of a misbranded drug with intent to mislead or defraud.” It also alleges he was involved in the trafficking of these counterfeit drugs.

The issue of counterfeit drugs, its almost mainstream criminal activity and the threat to the healthcare of consumers worldwide encourages the need of all within the pharmaceutical supply chain to deploy solutions and technologies to combat this potentially deadly crime.

To learn more about anti-counterfeiting solutions, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.

To read the entire Globe and Mail story, visit: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/paralympic-curling-skip-arrested-in-us-over-counterfeit-drugs/article1542641/

Dallas Man Convicted for Distributing Counterfeit Drugs: Viagra, Cialis, Levitra

Richard Fletcher, 57, of Dallas Texas has been convicted of distributing counterfeit drugs and trafficking in pharmaceuticals bearing false labeling and counterfeit trademarks.

He used the Internet to obtain and distribute counterfeit versions of Viagra®, Cialis® and Levitra® pharmaceutical drugs. These drugs are used to treat erectile dysfunction. Their patents are held by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly, and Bayer Corporation respectively.

Fletcher offered the medication over the internet at a discounted price of $1 - $1.40 a tablet. This rate was far below the normal retail price of $11 - $13 a tablet.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a division of U.S. Department of Homeland Security, began an investigation in October 2007. Undercover ICE agents posing as customers purchase prescriptions through his website between February and June of 2008. The drugs were later analyzed by the trademark holders and the FDA's Forensic Chemistry Center, and determined to be counterfeit. Also found during the investigation was proof that Fletcher purchased the counterfeits from China and engaged in discussions with Chinese individuals on how to evade detection and seizure of the product.

During this time, agents were also contacted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) who had seized 960 Viagra tablets in package addressed to Fletcher at a mail facility in California. The counterfeit Viagra and Cialis tablets obtained as a result of the investigation are valued at more than $46,000.