Feds Drop Counterfeit Drug Charges Against Prominent Pharmacist

Federal prosecutors have dismissed charges against a prominent Madison pharmacist accused of importing and selling fake Viagra and other drugs.

In an update to a fascinating story that had been blogged about previously in Secure Pharma Chain, the Green Bay Press Gazette is reporting:

• Online court records show prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York dropped the case against Marla Ahlgrimm on Nov. 5. The records don't offer any explanation. Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office involved in the case, declined comment. Ahlgrimm's attorney, Lester Pines, also declined comment.

• Ahlgrimm and a Middleton man named Balbir Bhogal were charged in September with working together to deliver counterfeit drugs, including Oxycodone, Hydrocodone and Viagra, to FBI informants. Bhogal's case is still pending.

• Ahlgrimm founded Women's Health America, a Madison-based umbrella company that includes a pharmacy and a laboratory. The University of Wisconsin Foundation's website lists her as a board member.

This story has been very interesting to watch because of the prominance of the people implicated and the proximity of counterfeit drugs to the legitimate pharmaceutical supply chain.

Clearly as the facts become known it will become even more apparent that all members of the pharmaceutical supply chain must take sufficent measures to protect their inventories from fraudulent, adulterated, sub-standard and counterfeit medications. There are far too many ways for bogus drugs to enter the legitimate supply chain and poison the consumer.

Secure Pharma Chain will follow this story as it continues to unfold.

To read the entire Green Bay Press Gazette story, visit: http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20101122/GPG0101/11220532/Feds-drop-drug-charges-against-Madison-pharmacist

To learn more 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/.

WHO: Fake Drugs Major Factor in New Malaria Strain

The World Health Organization (WHO) raised the alarm about a new strain of drug resistant malaria in South East Asia.

According to SafeMedicines, a newly published report on antimalarial drug efficacy and resistance, scientists believe that fake and substandard malarial medications are a major factor in the development of new drug-resistant strains of malaria.

According to SafeMedicines:

• Resistance to artemisinin has emerged along the border of Cambodia and Thailand, and WHO is putting together a global panel of stakeholders to work to contain this new strain before it spreads to Africa, as other strains did in the 1960s and 1970s. Scientists believe that once a new strain occurs through spontaneous change in the parasite, its ability to survive is promoted by substandard medications.

• Current containment activities involve long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets, recruitment and training of village health workers equipped with rapid diagnostic tests, and most importantly free malaria treatment and follow-up. Free treatment is key to the success of the containment effort because “free treatment and care helps to undermine the sale of counterfeit and substandard antimalarial drugs,” states WHO in the “Global Report on Antimalarial Drug Efficacy And Drug Resistance: 2000-2010.

• “Efforts have also been made to stop the sale of counterfeit and substandard drugs, which are a major factor in the development of resistance,” states the report.

• WHO’s report states that the Cambodian government is working closely to monitor malarial medications and educating consumers in workshops and through reading materials on the extensive dangers fake malaria drugs may cause them.

• “History has shown that once resistance to antimalarial treatment emerges it is only a question of time before it spreads. For the first time, the global malaria community has the opportunity to contain resistance before it spreads,” states the report.

• Artemisinin is a plant-based antimalarial medicine, which due its potency very quickly reduces the number of malaria parasites in humans. Artemisinin compounds are combined with other anti-malarial drugs in therapies called artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). Using combination therapies provide multiple possible agents to kill the plasmodium parasites that cause malaria.

Drug resistant diseases know no borders and effect wealthy and the poor.

Counterfeit drugs have become one of the most insidious criminal and health care epidemics of the 21st century.

All members of the global pharmaceutical supply chain (manufacturers, distributors, regulatory agencies, dispensers and consumers) must insist on it members to use all laws, solutions and technologies to fight this lethal crime.

To view the entire SafeMedicines post, visit: http://www.safemedicines.org/2010/11/fake-drugs-major-factor-in-new-malaria-strain-says-who-49.html

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

Veterinarians Warn of Fake Online Medications

The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) has warned medications purchased over the internet could be counterfeited drugs.

According to a report by ABC News, the AVA believes the trade in internet drugs for animals is growing as farmers try to contain costs:

• AVA president Dr Barry Smyth says livestock producers need to be particularly careful with what they buy.

• "We know that somewhere between 5 and 10 per cent of these products are counterfeit and not what they're supposed to be so there's a real danger you may not be getting what you're paying for," he said.

• "For people in the livestock industries they need to be very careful what they treat their animals with, because of residues in animal products."

The danger of fraudulent, adulterated, sub-standard and counterfeit drugs are everywhere but seem to proliferated online via the internet.

All pharmaceutical supply chain experts agree, never purchase pharmaceuticals online via sources that are not directly connected to an actual, legitimate pharmacy and/or does not require a physician or in this case veterinarian’s prescription.

To read the ABC News story, visit: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/05/3057896.htm

To learn more about anti-counterfeit technologies for pharmaceuticals, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.

Probe Into Fake Cancer Drugs

Cypriot police investigating counterfeit cancer treatment drugs which are being smuggled into the European Union.

In a story by Constantinos Ioannou which appeared in the November 11 issue of the Cyprus Mail, two pharmaceutical companies within Cyprus have been implicated in a case of counterfeit cancer treatment drugs which are being illegally smuggled into the European Union.

According to the Cyprus Mail article:

• Cypriot police received a court order from the German Federal Police on Tuesday and searched four premises on the island, two in Larnaca district and two in Limassol district.

• The premises searched belong to two pharmaceutical companies which have been operational since March. There were also simultaneous searches conducted in Germany, Norway and Switzerland.

• Police spokesman Michael Katsounotos yesterday said: “From investigations conducted so far it does not appear that any crime was committed on Cypriot soil.” Katsounotos also assured the public that none of these counterfeit drugs were available in the Cypriot market.

• According to Katsounotos the counterfeit cancer treatment drugs were manufactured in England and were due to be distributed outside the European Union only. However upon receiving them, pharmacists in an unnamed third country modified the drugs and sold them to various other countries, some of which are based in the European Union. Investigators in Norway and Germany came to the conclusion that the modified counterfeit drugs were brought to Cyprus and then distributed to markets around the world.

• The two pharmaceutical companies on the island which have been implicated in the investigations are alleged to have purchased the counterfeit cancer treatment drugs before distributing them to Norway and Germany.

• Katsounotos said that the owners of the companies have been questioned but it appears at this point that no crime was committed on Cypriot soil. However he added: “Further investigations are due to take place and the completed file will be given to the Attorney-general who will make the final decision if there are any charges to be brought against the companies.” Katsounotos also added that some of the drugs were taken to the Netherlands where documents were falsified to show that they came from Cyprus.

• Katsounotos assured the public that none of the drugs were available in Cyprus, although he could not clarify if the counterfeit cancer treatment drugs were in Cyprus at any point.

• “That is the object of our investigation, what we know as fact is that documents were falsified in Holland to show that these drugs came from Cyprus,” he said.

• The Director of the State Laboratory Popi Kanari also warned yesterday that the use of counterfeit drugs, which can be usually purchased via the internet or other unofficial sources may pose serious risks to a person’s health.

• Kanari stressed that these drugs have not gone through the proper procedure of registration at the ministry of health. Kanari said: “Such drugs have been tested numerous times by the lab and have been found to contain toxic substances that can cause serious problems to one’s health”.

The criminal act of counterfeit medications is not limited to undeveloped countries and traditional black market activities.

Adulterated, fraudulent, sub-standard and counterfeit medications are making their way into the legitimate supply chains in developed countries by using illegal transactions and documentation.

The fraud of altering the transactional drug pedigrees, basically authenticating counterfeit or sub-standard drugs as real and efficacious is as dangerous and lethal to the patient as the poisons inside the bogus drugs.

The danger counterfeit drugs represent to entire health care populations is very real and all members of the pharmaceutical supply chain should take proactive measures to protect their inventories and consumers.

Authenticating and verifying what is inside the medications is the only way to make certain that the consumer is taking the real thing.

To read the entire Cyprus Mail article, visit: http://www.cyprus-mail.com/healthcare/probe-fake-cancer-drugs/20101111

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

USP Building Database of Fake & Substandard Meds

USP is building a database of counterfeit medicines to support international drug procurement organizations, such as WHO, and the timely sharing of information between national regulators.

In a November 16th article in the In-PharmaTechnologist, Nick Taylor reports on the development of a new database that is due to launch early next year by the US Pharmacopeia (USP).

USP’s database will allow regulators and organizations the ability to monitor counterfeit and substandard drugs and to support more informed enforcement actions and procurement-related decisions.

According to Mr. Taylor’s article:

• Speaking to in-PharmaTechnologist at AAPS 2010 Patrick Lukulay, director of the promoting the quality of medicines (PQM) initiative at USP, outlined how timely sharing of information can support enforcement actions.

• Lukulay said the database could have supported a more effective response to counterfeit medicines that spread to Mali after first being seized in Ghana. Using the database regulators in Mali would have been aware of the products, which had the same batch numbers as the products seized in Ghana, and acted accordingly.

• Having created the architecture the USP is now inputting information about counterfeit or substandard drugs into the database. Listed on the database will be the name of the product, the country it was seized in, what was wrong with it and other descriptors, said Lukulay. If countries agree the database will be shared with the public.

• The benefits of sharing information also underpin the USP's creation of a 'virtual forum'. This will allow users to pose questions, share alerts and discuss best practices among a network of people involved with ensuring the quality of medicines.

Secure Pharma Chain, supports all efforts to share information in fighting the deadly crime of adulterated, fraudulent, substandard and counterfeit drugs.

All members of the pharmaceutical supply chain must use all tools including technologies, solutions and cooperative intelligence databases to interdict these dangerous products

It is critical that each member of the supply chain bear the responsibility of securing their inventories in order to protect their business brand and ultimately the health care consumer.

To read the entire story, visit: http://www.in-pharmatechnologist.com/Processing-QC/USP-building-database-of-fake-substandard-meds

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

Freightwatch International: October 2010 Cargo Theft Report

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 October 2010.

FreightWatch recorded 77 incidents for the month of October, a substantial increase over the 55 incidents recorded in September.

As the holiday season approaches, increasing freight movement becomes an opportunity for thieves to target high-value loads.

California continues to report the highest number of thefts accounting for 34% of all incidents reported in October. Florida, Texas, New Jersey and Georgia remain at the top of the list and continually report slight variances in the number of thefts from month to month.

By commodity, pharmaceuticals had six reported incidents in October which doubles the number from the previous month:

• October 1st in Jacksonville, Florida a last mile delivery of pharmaceuticals was taken of an unreported value.

• October 3rd in Hollywood, California a warehouse burglary of a pharmaceutical distribution center of an unreported value.

• October 7th in San Fernando, California there was a theft of a trailer roadside of an unreported value.

• October 10th in Fort Smith, Arkansas there was a theft of a trailer from a public access lot valued at $50,000.

• October 13th in Dallas, Texas there was a theft of a container of pharmaceuticals of an undetermined value in a public access lot.

• October 15th in Gardena, California there was the theft of a trailer of pharmaceuticals of an unreported value.

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.

As the value and prevalence increases, so too does the potential risk to consumers.

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

To learn more about pharmaceutical material screening technologies, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/