Fake Meds Lure 7 M Adults in UK - But it could cost them more than just a charge on their credit card!

Pfizer shocked the world early this year when they release anti-counterfeiting campaign in the theaters in the United Kingdom. They are now continuing this campaign for public awareness with posters and commercials on TV. Due to their graphic nature, the commercial was only shown after 11 p.m.

The main message is an elaboration of “Buyer Beware” – especially when it comes to online purchases of medications. In an age where consumers are buying more of their products online, they need to be cautious when it comes to medications.

New research indicating the scale of the counterfeit medicine culture was released last week as part of this hard-hitting campaign to educate the public of the risks involved in purchasing fake medicines from unregulated websites. The Get Real, Get A Prescription public awareness campaign is being launched in a partnership between Pfizer, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB), The Patients Association and HEART UK.

More than one in seven British Adults survey (15%) admitted to bypassing the healthcare system to get medication without a prescription. That would equate to around 7 million adults who are gambling with their lives. So why would consumers take this risk? - A majority (60%) of adults agree that they're more trusting of all purchases they make online today compared to five years ago. About one fifth stated they believe offering medications online at discounted pricing is a public service and about a third believe the medication to be true. But 78% of General Practitioners believe this practice puts their patient’s health and potentially their lives at risk, due to the prevalence of counterfeit drugs online.

David Pruce from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain said: "Pharmacists are very concerned about the increase in fake or counterfeit medicines. As expert professionals in medicines and medicines use, we know only too well that fake medication does not work and that it can cause harm. Stay safe by ensuring that you always get your prescriptions dispensed at a registered UK pharmacy. If you want to buy medicines online, always check that you are dealing with a genuine pharmacy. Don't go on face value - some of the illegal sites look very professional but supply dangerous fakes. Check our website for a list of sites that have been awarded the RPSGB's internet pharmacy logo so that you can be sure that you are dealing with a UK registered pharmacy supplying genuine medicines. This campaign is important. We want the UK to be the safest place to obtain medicines."

Consumers can go to http://www.realdanger.co.uk for more information and advice.

To read entire article visit: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com.

SafeMeds Weekly: Counterfeit Drug Sentencing Less Than Adequate

In an opinion piece posted on SafeMeds Weekly on August 10, 2009, Marvin D. Shepherd, PhD discusses the issue of light sentencing given to those convicted of counterfeiting medications around the globe. Dr. Shepherd asserts that inadequate sentencing “undermines the seriousness and true threat that counterfeit drugs pose to society and public health.”

Dr. Shepherd sites several examples:

• After nearly two years under investigation, the final sentence for running an international multi-million pound counterfeit medication operation was issued in the United Kingdom. The first four convictions were made in September 2007 and on July 6, the final member of the operation received a 12 month sentence, suspended for two years, for masterminding an industrial scale conspiracy of supplying counterfeit drugs between 2002 and 2005. In total, the seven convicted members of this international counterfeit drug ring received a combined 17.5 years imprisonment-an average of 2.5 years for each participant-for their part in the U.K. distribution arm of a global ring operating from China, India and Pakistan, extending to the Caribbean and the United States.


• In March 2009, an Arizona couple received at most eight years imprisonment for running an illegal drug business netting more than $2.5 million from 2004 to 2006. In comparison, convicted members of an illegal recreational drug ring would receive mandatory minimum sentences starting at 20 years up to life imprisonment for distribution in the United States.

In this article Dr. Shepherd questions the logic of not holding those responsible for the distribution and sale of counterfeit drugs to the same severity to those who commit similar offenses with illicit drugs. Basically he believes that until this is done the individuals and organizations responsible for this very real threat will continue to flourish.

XStream Systems favors stricter and more stringent enforcement and criminal penalties across the globe for those convicted of manufacturing, distributing or selling counterfeit or adulterated medications. XStream also encourages those within the pharmaceutical supply chain to screen and test their inventories with solutions such as XStream’s XT250 which allows the user to test and authenticate product inside its sealed container without destroying product or opening the container. The XT250 is designed to be deployed and used within the supply chain onsite and does not require technical resources to operate.

To read the opinion piece and to learn more about SafeMeds Weekly, visit their site at www.safemedicines.org.

To learn more about XStream Systems, XT250, visit us at www.xstreamsystems.net.

UK: Online Dealer of Fake Medicines is Jailed

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) reported that a 49-year-old unlicensed and counterfeit medicines dealer has been sentenced to two years imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court. Mr. Martin Simon Hickman pleaded guilty to six counts of selling and supplying fake and unlicensed medicines, and money laundering to the sum of £1.4m.

Mr. Hickman operated an illegal online pharmacy and sold over £6m worth of fake Viagra and unlicensed Kamagra and Lovegra (Indian erectile dysfunction drugs) in the United Kingdom and abroad between 2003 to 2007.

His illegal gains funded a lavish lifestyle - a £2.5million riverside apartment in Chelsea, West London, property in the Spanish millionaires’ resort of Marbella and a four-bedroom farmhouse.

MHRA Head of Enforcement, Mick Deats, said the man enjoyed a lavish lifestyle on the profits made by selling the unlicensed and fake drugs. "People dealing in these types of businesses are criminals, but at the much higher end of the pay scale," he said. "Mr Hickman has substantially benefitted financially from this unlawful trade."

"He is not a healthcare professional, in fact, he is not professional in any way shape or form. He is simply a money motivated criminal living a life of luxury at the expense of other people's health."

MHRA investigation began in 2005 and ran till his site was successfully closed in 2007. Because the website was hosted in Germany the MHRA had to take out an injunction to shut the website down. But Hickman still continued to trade and in 2007 was jailed for three months for ignoring the injunction.

Hickman also had prior dealings in illegal pharmaceuticals and in 1998 he was jailed for 10 months for conspiracy to trade in steroids.

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.