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/

Pharmacists Caught Selling Fake Viagra

Fake Viagra Imported from China.

Park Si-soo in the Korea Times reports on a group of pharmacists in Seoul, South Korea who were charged with selling counterfeit drugs.

According to the Korea Times article:

• A group of pharmacists were caught selling fake Viagra pills imported from China.

• The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said 15 pharmacists were booked on suspicion of selling the fake pills that could cause consumers to die of a heart attack in the worst case.

• Each pill was purchased for 2,000 won and resold to consumers for 15,000-18,000 won each.

• Experts called for a tough crackdown on the circulation of fake Viagra pills.

• Offenders without a prior criminal record face a fine of up to 5 million won or a business suspension for up to 15 days.

Clearly the selling of dangerous, potentially deadly counterfeit drugs by healthcare professionals to their unsuspecting patients is troubling.

Especially troubling is the light penalties for those convicted of this potentially lethal criminal act.

When pharmacists, healthcare providers or members of the supply chain have few legal barriers or no imposing penalties to protect their inventories from bogus drugs, the potential for the introduction of fraudulent, adulterated, sub-standard and counterfeit drugs into the legitimate pharmaceutical supply chain increases significantly.

The proliferation of fraudulent, adulterated, sub-standard and counterfeit drugs has become one of the most lethal criminal acts and healthcare epidemics in the 21st century. All members of the pharmaceutical supply chain-regulators, raw material providers, manufacturers, distributors and providers-must take proactive steps in protecting the consumer from these lethal fakes.

To read the entire Korea Times article, visit: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/12/113_77963.html

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

FDA: Don’t “Man Up Now”

FDA issues warning against supplement marketed for sexual enhancement which contains potentially dangerous ingredient.

In a government recent press release the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use Man Up Now capsules, marketed as a dietary supplement for sexual enhancement, because they contain a variation of an active drug ingredient found in Viagra that can dangerously lower blood pressure.

Man Up Now claims to be “herbal” and “all natural,” and consumers may mistakenly assume the product is harmless and poses no health risk.

Consumers who have Man Up Now capsules should stop using them immediately. The FDA analyzed Man Up Now and determined that it contains sulfoaildenafil, a chemical similar to sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra. Like sildenafil, this chemical may interact with prescription drugs such as nitrates, including nitroglycerin, and cause dangerously low blood pressure. When blood pressure drops suddenly, the brain is deprived of an adequate blood supply that can lead to dizziness or lightheadedness.

Man Up Now, distributed by Synergy Distribution LLC, is sold on Internet sites, online marketplaces, and possibly in retail outlets in single, double, and triple blister packs, and in six-, 12-, and 30-count capsule bottles.

Consumers should take great care when purchasing or taking dietary supplements products, the FDA has found many products marketed for sexual enhancement can be harmful because they contain active ingredients in FDA-approved drugs or variations of these ingredients.

To read the FDA Press Release: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm236538.htm

Man Charged with Selling Fake Drugs in Wisconsin Faced Illegal-Drug Charges in Texas

Balbir Bhogal a man now facing Federal charges for peddling fake Viagra had been arrested and charged in 2002 for running a bogus pharmacy in Texas and possessing multiple illegal drugs.

Dan Simmons in the Wednesday, September 15th edition of the Wisconsin State Journal reports on a story previously posted in Secure Pharma Chain.

Along with prominent Madison pharmacist and businesswoman Marla Ahlgrimm, who owns Women's Health America and serves on the UW Foundation board, Mr. Bhogal was jailed on federal charges that the pair had sold millions of doses of fake Viagra and other drugs, and conspired to illegally sell painkillers.

According to the Wisconsin State Journal article:

• The Middleton man charged recently with peddling fake Viagra had earlier been arrested and charged in 2002 for running a sham pharmacy in Texas and possessing multiple illegal drugs, according to court records.

• "He was certainly a predator type," said Andrew Walters, police chief of Oakridge North, Texas, where Balbir Bhogal was charged in October 2002.

• A complaint filed last month in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn alleges renowned Madison pharmacist Marla Ahlgrimm, 55, and Bhogal, 63, imported and sold millions of doses of fake Viagra and other counterfeit drugs and conspired to illegally sell stimulants and tranquilizers.

• In the 2002 case, Bhogal was charged with five felony counts of possessing illegal drugs after an undercover police raid allegedly found cocaine, crack, marijuana and a rave drug known as Special K, among other illegal substances including a Fed Ex package containing phentolamine mesylate, used for erectile dysfunction in men, at his storefront herbal supplement store in Oakridge North, about 30 miles north of Houston.

• "It is speculated that Bhogal was making his own ‘viagra' pills," a detective wrote as part of the incident report. But Bhogal was not specifically charged for it then, Walters said.

• At the time, he was identified as an assistant professor at the Baylor College of Medicine and a package addressed to him bore the address of the Veteran's Affairs hospital in Houston, according to the court records. Representatives at both institutions declined comment Wednesday.

• He was sentenced to probation on the charges in April 2004 before the charges were dropped for unknown reasons in 2006, according to Walters and court records.

• It's not clear how Ahlgrimm came into contact with Bhogal, a consultant at her business, Women's Health America of Madison. In court records he's also described as a "registered agent" at Nutragen, L.L.C., a Madison pharmaceutical company.

• According to the recent complaint, a confidential source told the FBI about buying millions of tablets of prescription drugs from Ahlgrimm and Bhogal. Another informant reported ordering prescription painkillers and erectile dysfunction medication that, when intercepted by authorities, were found to be fake or ineffective.

When trusted professional health care providers and prominent pharmaceutical supply chain members become actively involved in the criminal and deadly act of drug counterfeiting, it is vital that the members of the supply chain protect their businesses and consumers from bogus medications.

This is no longer a crime that occurs and impacts the populations of underdeveloped nations.

Verifying and securing inventories is now a vital and necessary process.

To read the entire Wisconsin State Journal article, visit: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/article_ad573bec-c126-11df-b94e-001cc4c03286.html.

To learn more about pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting technology, visit: www.xstreamsystems.net.

£1 million of Fake Viagra Tablets Seized at Heathrow Airport

UK Border Agency Officials announced Thursday that 180,000 fake Viagra tablets had been seized at Heathrow Airport over the last 3 months.

The Border Agency officials warned that the counterfeit erectile dysfunction tablets, which were worth more than £1 million were destined for the black market, contained "potentially harmful chemicals which were likely to have the desired effect."

Clearly these bogus drugs would have gone undetected by their victims until their overall health was negatively impacted. In most cases it seems likely that the victims or their health care provider would not have any idea as to the real cause of their decline.

These isolated seizures are not isolated incidents and demonstrate how prevalent this deadly crime has become in developed countries.

No population is safe from fake medications spreading poor health, disease and death.

Bogus drugs that go to the black market end up in the legitimate supply chain through a variety of sources because of the huge profits realized by the criminals.

We are now seeing trusted health care professionals becoming involved in this deadly trade, lured by the money and the lax regulatory enforcement.

It is imperative that all members of the pharmaceutical supply chain become proactive in deploying solutions and technologies to protect their inventories and consumers from these deadly medications. As this deadly issue accelerates into the developed world, those that make the investment now will save lives and profit from their foresight.

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

Prominant U.S. Pharmacist Accused of Selling Fake Drugs

​A prominent Wisconsin pharmacist, who served on the University of Wisconsin Foundation and built a national reputation for helping women cope with PMS has been accused of shipping millions of fake doses of Viagra and other prescription medications.

Dr. Marla Ahlgrimm owner of Women’s Health America and her alleged partner Balbir Bhogal are purported to have imported pills from India with the identical coloring and markings of Viagra and other prescription drugs and selling them to an Internet pharmacy service among others.

Feds intercepted the drugs being shipped by an Internet pharmacy, which turned over its illegal Viagra, oxycodone and anti-anxiety meds. Tests determined the drugs, which were traced back to Ahlgrimm and Bhogal, contained either no medication or only tiny amounts.

When a trusted health care professional intentionally poisons the pharmaceutical supply chain with fraudulent, counterfeit medications, the only protection is in the members of the supply chain routinely verifying the safety and clinical efficacy of the product through authentication technologies.

Secure Pharma Chain encourages everyone within the pharmaceutical supply chain to deploy a variety of technologies, specifically authentication solutions to protect their inventories from fraudulent, adulterated and counterfeit medications.

Authentication solutions go beyond pedigree or track and trace solutions and verifies to the end user what is inside the box within their inventories.

Knowing where the box has been is important but knowing what is inside the box is critical.

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

Counterfeit Viagra was Found in Montreal Store, Health Canada Warns

In an article which appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press on July 29th, Health Canada is warning that a health product sold by a store in Montreal which closely resembles Viagra, but is considered a counterfeit.

According to the posted story:

· Health Canada says it worked with the Canadian licensee Pfizer Canada to confirm the product was not Viagra, a prescription drug used to treat erectile dysfunction.
· The store, Marche Euromix, says it is no longer selling the unauthorized product.
· Health Canada says it inspected the store in response to a complaint by a consumer.
· The health agency says unauthorized and counterfeit health products can pose serious risks to health as they haven't been reviewed for safety, quality or efficacy.
· It says counterfeit products may contain ingredients not listed on the label, dangerous additives and microbial contamination.
· In addition they may lack the active ingredients that purchasers might expect them to contain.

This is a cautionary story about the presence of counterfeit and fraudulent goods, even health related goods, becoming more prevalent in legitimate supply chains and retail outlets.

The presence of these potentially dangerous products are not limited to markets in underdeveloped nations but are also showing up in retail venues in sophisticated and what most consider highly regulated countries as well.

Consumers need to understand the dangers and take care in selecting products especially those that can significantly alter their well being or pose a serious threat to their health.

To read the entire Winnipeg Free Press story online, visit: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/life/home_family/counterfeit-viagra-was-found-on-montreal-market-health-canada-warns-99554069.html.

To learn more about technologies used to combat adulterated, fraudulent and counterfeit drugs, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.

Counterfeit Viagra Found in Australia’s Legitimate Supply Chain

In a June 21st press release Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the government agency tasked with protection the nation’s pharmaceutical and health care products announced the following:

The TGA is urgently investigating the source of the counterfeit Viagra (sildenafil) that has been supplied in Australia and has entered the wholesale/pharmacy supply chain.

The counterfeit product is labeled as 100 mg tablets in packs of 4 with Batch Number 314833021 and Expiry Date 04 2012.

To date there is no evidence that the product is harmful. The TGA has analysed a number of the counterfeit tablets and has found that sildenafil is present but not in the correct dose. However, because this batch has not been manufactured under controlled conditions it is not possible to extrapolate these test results to other samples of this batch. Therefore consumers in possession of Viagra tablets bearing this batch number and expiry date are advised not to take them but to return them to the pharmacy at which they were dispensed.

The details of the batch and expiry date for the product can be found embossed on the white left-hand panel of the carton flap.

No other batches of product have been implicated.

Pharmacies across Australia have been advised to quarantine stocks of this batch to prevent any further distribution.

This incident reiterates the need for supply chain authentication by all members of the pharmaceutical supply chain (production to dispenser) to eliminate the risks of consumers receiving fraudulent, adulterated or counterfeit medications.

Secure Pharma Chain Blog endorses the the deployment of a variety of solutions including authentication of drugs within their unit-of-sale container to verify the legitimacy and efficacy of the product to the consumer.

To read the press release, visit: http://www.tga.gov.au/alerts/medicines/viagra.htm.

To learn more about pharmaceutical supply chain solutions, 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/

German Customs and the Economics of Pharmaceutical Counterfeiting

In an excellent piece by Phil Taylor in SecuringPharma.com he writes about an international operation headed by customs officers in Germany that is attempting to disrupt the trade in counterfeit medicines focusing primarily sales via the Internet.

According to the story this effort,” has notched up some notable successes in its first 18 months”.

The operation named Project Blue is specifically targeted at the illegal trade in pharmaceuticals and is being conducted by a 12-member team from German Customs, under the leadership of Sieghart Vosseler.

The highlights on Project Blue are:

· "The cooperation of the financial sector made this a unique operation, and was a major contributory factor towards the success of Project Blue," said Vosseler, who heads the Organized Crime Investigations unit at German Customs.
· Few people are aware of the hugely complicated network that is operating when they make a purchase using a credit card, and particularly the fact that the likes of Visa and MasterCard never actually touch the money that changes hands.
· "The credit card companies provide the network for payment, but the actual money is handled by independent companies known as acquirers," said Vosseler. He cited a case last May in which a German Internet pharmacy was raided and a large quantity of fake medicines were seized, including products mimicking Pfizer's erectile dysfunction product Viagra (sildenafil citrate). The ringleader of the operation was in fact a career criminal - a burglar - who had decided to swap over to counterfeit medicines as the risks were low and the rewards high. The Project Blue taskforce were able to follow the financial transactions of the ring - which involved shifting large quantities of money (around €3m) through seven separate countries, and freeze their bank accounts.
· A total of seven arrests were made in the operation, which resulted in the seizure of more than 172,000 medicine units and nearly €390,000 in cash, as well as the confiscation of around €700,000-worth of assets such as cars and property.

The most notable highlight of the story, aside from the specifics on Project Blue are the explanation from the German customs official, Mr. Vosseler, regarding the economics of pharmaceutical counterfeiting which is what makes it so financially attractive and driving its proliferation:

· "There is a lot of money in counterfeit medicines," commented Vosseler, at a recent IQPC conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
· He cited a study carried out at the University of Bonn which looked at the profit which can be made when a criminal invests a €1,000 stake in counterfeit goods. For counterfeit money the return would be around €3,000 (on an investment of €1,000), rising to a little under €7,000 for a fake credit card (on an investment of €1,000). Counterfeiting software gives an even better return at around €100,000 profit (on an investment of €1,000), but all are eclipsed by fake pharmaceuticals with a whopping €500,000 return (on an investment of €1,000).

The story provides excellent insight into the international fight that pharmaceutical counterfeiting has become and the huge financial gains that is driving it.

Secure Pharma Chain Blog continues to highlight medication counterfeiting as one of the most dangerous forms of this criminal activity and encourages all within the pharmaceutical supply chains to deploy a variety of solutions and technologies in their efforts to protect the healthcare of the consumer.

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

To read the entire SecuringPharma.com story, visit: http://www.securingpharma.com/40/articles/455.php.

HealthDay: Fake Drugs Bought on the Web Pose Big Health Risks

2.5 million men in Europe alone may have taken counterfeit Viagra, study says.

Amanda Gardner from HealthDay makes another spin on the story about the International Journal of Clinical Practice report regarding the dangers of internet pharmacy purchases of prescription drugs which has been blogged on Secure Pharma Chain Blog earlier. This excellent story appears below:

FRIDAY, Jan. 29 (HealthDay News) -- People who buy prescription medications over the Internet, especially drugs purporting to treat erectile dysfunction, are playing Russian roulette with their lives, a new study contends.

At best the drugs won't help you and at worst they could kill you, the review article said.
"You may be wasting your money or you may actually be hurting yourself," said Dr. Margaret E. Wierman, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado at Denver and chief of endocrinology at the Denver VA Medical Center, who was not involved with the study.
Counterfeit Internet drugs are a mushrooming problem. Seizures of fake drugs in Europe quadrupled between 2005 and 2007. And the number of investigations undertaken by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration increased by a factor of eight between 2000 and 2006, according to the study, published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

The sale of counterfeit drugs has almost doubled in the last five years, and will hit $75 billion in 2010, according to one estimate, making it one of the more lucrative illicit drug markets.
As many as 2.5 million men in Europe may have taken counterfeit sildenafil (Viagra), the study authors stated.

"It's a very significant problem and I think there are people who are being injured," said Dr. Ira D. Sharlip, a spokesman for the American Urological Association and clinical professor of urology at the University of California, San Francisco. "The only way to avoid the problem is not to buy on the Internet."

Viagra-like tablets bought on the Internet aren't necessarily any cheaper than the real thing, but they do allow buyers to avoid the shame factor often associated with asking for this type of drug.
"The motivation is the anonymity of buying drugs on the Internet. It's embarrassing to some men to go to a pharmacy and pick up his Viagra prescription, and it's also embarrassing for some men to go to a doctor and say, 'I have erectile dysfunction. I need some Viagra,'" Sharlip said.
The problem of fake drugs isn't limited to impotence treatments.

According to the study, two pregnant women died after they were given injections of a counterfeit iron preparation for anemia, and 51 children died in Bangladesh of kidney failure after taking paracetamol syrup that was contaminated with diethylene glycol, which is often used as antifreeze in cars.

So many things can go wrong with Internet purchases.

"The purity of the medication or the quality of the medication is under no sort of scrutiny or any type of oversight to determine if, first of all, it is the correct medication. And second, if it is correct is it in the correct dosage?" said Dr. Michael Chehval, chief of urology at St. Louis University.

Study author Dr. Graham Jackson, a cardiologist at London Bridge Hospital in the United Kingdom, said: "The first danger is people don't know what's in it. Some are just talcum powder or brick dust, while some have a bit of Viagra or Cialis and some chemicals that have nothing to do with it. One batch actually contained amphetamine, which is an addictive drug. Tablets are made shiny with road paint or shoe polish. The content of the medication could be anything."
In 2008, four men in Singapore died after ingesting counterfeit impotence drugs that had been contaminated with a blood-sugar-lowering agent, the study reported.

And bypassing the involvement of a competent doctor means red flags could be missed.
"Erection problems can be an early warning sign of heart disease or diabetes," Jackson said. "If you do have a problem and don't see a doctor, diagnosis of those important conditions can be missed. Men with no symptoms at all who get an erection problem usually are an average of three to five years away from a heart attack. Instead of going to the Internet, they should be going to their doctors to find out if they are at risk and to do something about it."

Problems also can occur when the impotence drugs actually do contain phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5), the main ingredient in Viagra, as well as vardenafil (Levitra) and tadalafil (Cialis).

"People with underlying heart problems are at risk for cardiac events if they take this class of medication," Chehval said.

According to the review article, about one-third of men reported sidestepping a health-care professional when buying erectile dysfunction drugs.

"This is a really serious issue. We can fix the erectile dysfunction and we can also fix the chances of getting a heart attack," Jackson said.

Jackson is editor of the journal and reported multiple ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, which makes Viagra. The review article covered more than fifty studies published between 1995 and 2009 and was conducted by British, Swedish and American researchers.

To read the story online, visit: http://healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=635386.

To learn more about pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting technology, visit: www.xstreamsystems.net.

Bloomberg: Interpol Investigation Leads to Drug Seizures, Arrests in Asia

Bloomberg News has posted an online story reporting on a huge seizure of millions of counterfeit unit of sale packs of counterfeit medications. The operation coded named Operation Storm II was coordinated by Interpol and included counterfeit medications from the branded manufacturers Pfizer, Bristol-Meyers Squibb and Teva.

The entire Bloomberg News story appears below:

Police seized more than 20 million packs of counterfeit medicines, arrested at least 33 people and closed more than 100 illegal pharmacies in a series of raids in eight Southeast Asian nations coordinated by Interpol.

Counterfeit versions of Pfizer Inc.’s Viagra for erectile dysfunction, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s blood thinner Plavix and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s morning-after pill Plan B were among the products seized, Aline Plancon, an Interpol officer who coordinated the raids, said Jan. 26 in an e-mail from Jakarta. The haul also included fake aspirin, antibiotics, malaria treatments and hair-loss medicines, she said.

The seizures and arrests, part of an investigation called Operation Storm II, are the second round of raids in two years in Asia as international and local police crackdown on widening sales of fake medicines.

Asia is the world’s biggest producer of all counterfeit products, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in 2007 report. About 40 percent of 1,047 arrests related to fake drugs worldwide in 2008 were made in Asia, according to the Washington-based Pharmaceutical Security Institute.

In raids between July and November, police in Cambodia, China, Laos, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam seized more than 12.2 million packs of fake drugs, Plancon said. An additional 8 million packs of medicines that had passed their expiry dates, were unregistered, or had been diverted from their intended destinations were also confiscated, she said.

Authorities from the eight countries involved plan to form a network to exchange information; coordinate enforcement and forensic investigations; and raise awareness in the region, Plancon said. Interpol is also creating a unit focused on fighting fake drugs, she said.
The new unit will help “dismantle the transnational criminals who threaten lives,” Plancon said. “This crime is a plague that needs to be addressed seriously and consistently in each and every country and region of the world.”

In 2008, police seized more than $6.7 million of counterfeit medicines and made 27 arrests in 200 raids across the region as part of Operation Storm I.

To read learn more about anti-counterfeiting technologies that protect the pharmaceutical supply chain, visit: www.xstreamsystems.net.

To read the entire Bloomberg post, follow this link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aktGpE2o.ohM

IJCP: Counterfeit Internet Drugs Pose Significant Risks and Discourage Vital Health Checks

A story posted online at redOrbit.com on January 20th explores a recently published review of online internet drugs posted by the International Journal of Clinical Practice (IJCP).

One of the major warnings from the IJCP report is that men who buy fake internet drugs for erection problems can face significant risks from potentially hazardous contents and bypassing healthcare systems could leave associated problems like diabetes and high blood pressure undiagnosed.

The IJCP review, which looks at more than fifty studies published between 1995 and 2009 and provides a valuable overview of the scale of counterfeit internet drugs, with a specific focus on erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs.

Here are some interesting statements from the story:

• Medical and pharmaceutical experts from the UK, Sweden and USA carried out a detailed review of the growing problem of counterfeit drugs. Estimates suggest that up to 90 per cent of these illegal preparations are now sold on the internet.


• These have played a key role in driving the growth of counterfeit drugs, with studies suggesting that as many as 2.3 million ED drugs are sold a month, mostly without prescription, and that 44 per cent of the Viagra offered on the internet is counterfeit.


• The presence of unknown pharmaceutically active ingredients and/or impurities may lead to undesirable and serious adverse events, even death" warns lead author and journal editor Graham Jackson, a London-based cardiologist.


• Pfizer, which manufactures Viagra, analyzed 2,383 suspected counterfeit samples forwarded to the company by law enforcement agencies between 2005 and 2009. It found that that a Hungarian sample contained amphetamine, a UK sample contained caffeine and bulk lactose and that printer ink had been used to color some samples blue. Other samples contained metronidazole, which can have significant adverse effects when combined with alcohol."


• And a study of 370 seized "Viagra" samples carried out by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health found that only 10 were genuine, with a range of other drugs present in the samples.


• "In some cases producing counterfeit medicine can be ten times as profitable per kilogram as heroin, yet in the UK someone can face greater legal sanctions if they produce a counterfeit T-shirt.


• "What is clear is that we need much greater public awareness of the risks of buying counterfeit drugs, as lives are at risk.

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

To read the entire redOrbit.com story: http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1811733/counterfeit_internet_drugs_pose_significant_risks_and_discourage_vital_health/index.html

U.S. Customs Seizes Fifty Pounds Of Counterfeit Viagra in Miami

As reported on many newswires and through an official press release, the United States Customs and Border Protection announced that in October, they intercepted 21,600 counterfeit Viagra tablets bound for another country.

The interception of counterfeit product, which weighed in at nearly 50 lbs. was passing through the Miami International Airport from India and was spotted by a suspicious Customs and Border Patrol Agent.

"We just know it's not authentic, but we don't know what's in it," said Customs and Border Protection spokesman Jose Castellano. "If something is counterfeit, there's no telling what they were manufactured with, and it could be harmful."

This is yet another cautionary tale about the prevalence and potential danger of counterfeit medications. This fraudulent shipment, valued at well over $300,000 (at the wholesale acquistion cost of the legitimate drug), could have negatively affected the health or caused a fatal reaction to nearly 22,000 consumers.

Know where you are buying your prescriptions and make certain that they purchase drugs from a trustworthy source of supply that utilizes track and trace and material screening technologies to verify and authenticate their pharmaceuticals inventories. Never purchase any drug from a source other than a licensed, well established pharmacy that requires a prescription from your physician.

To learn more about material screening technologies used to protect the pharmaceutical supply chain, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.

To view a News Video on the seizure visit: cbs4.com.

The World Health Organization estimates Poland spends up to $31.6M USD Annually on Fake Medicine

The following report from Polish Radio estimates the annual spend by Polish consumers on counterfeit products and seizures by customs officials:

Customs officials say that medications are the third most often falsified product, giving the example of the popular sexual enhancement drug Viagra as often being made of Plaster of Paris.

WHO adds that it is particularly easy to purchase false drugs in Poland as one can acquire medication through the internet – on auction sites and on sites who claim to be pharmacies.

According to WHO, Poles spend around 100 million zloty (over $31.6 Million USD) a year on fake medicine – most often on sexual performance, weight loss and psychotropic drugs.

Cases have been regularly reported in the press, however, of Poles being taken for a ride by unscrupulous dealers. Recently a teenager from Silesia took Chinese booster drugs that turned out to contain significant quantities of lead. A resident of Elk, northern Poland, was arrested three weeks ago for selling false sexual enhancement drugs over the internet – made of plaster.

In 2008, Polish customs officials seized over 100,000 false drugs. Medications are the third most often falsified products following cigarettes and electronic devices.

To view article visit: polskieradio.pl

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.

Russia: Four Pharma Execs Found Guilty of Counterfeiting 50 Brands of Medicine - Get Slap on the Hand

Four pharmaceutical executives from a prominent Russian pharmaceutical company, Bryntsalov A, were convicted in Moscow of counterfeiting over 50 different brands of medicine but all they got was a slap on the hand. Tatyana Bryntsalova, Oleg Zharov Sergey Novikov, and another executive received a suspended sentence, parole and fines of 30,000 – 50,000 rubles (about $900 - $1,500).

The knock-offs were sophisticated immitations, which made it difficult for doctors or patients to distinguish the fakes from the genuine products. According to police investigators around $2.5 million of medicines were manufactured by the company in 2004 and 2005.

TheraFlu, Viagra, No-Spa, Mezim-Forte, Nootropil and Baralgin are among the American and European drugs that were imitated. So far, however, only the American company Pfizer has indicated that it will take any action to seek restitution from Bryntsalov A.

Some of these medications were found in Russian hospitals. One of the fake medicines, Cavinton, made its way to a large research hospital in Siberia. The doctors there unknowingly administered around 3,000 doses of the fake Cavinton to their patients. The investigation eventually traced the fakes to a warehouse in Moscow registered to Tatyana Bryntsalova.

Tatyana Bryntsalova, former director of Bryntsalov A, is known to have strong political ties in Russia. She is a sister of the pharmaceuticals and vodka business tycoon, Vladimir Bryntsalov, the founder of Bryntsalv A and a former presidential candidate.

To view the entire article visit MosNews.com.

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.

Pfizer Helps Shut Down Steroid Counterfeiters

One drug class that has been susceptible to counterfeiting has been Steroids. These drugs are often sold to weightlifters and athletes wanting to bulk up.

This month, Fernando Reis, the mastermind behind the underground lab Azorian World Order as well as a large-scale British Dragon counterfeit operation pleaded guilty to 15 counts of trafficking and importing anabolic steroids and prescription drugs into Canada.

Interestingly enough, he was also manufacturing fake Viagra, which ended up being his downfall. Last year, Pfizer hired a private investigation firm to investigate the illicit business(es) of Fernando Reis after discovering counterfeit sildenafil citrate packaged to resemble brand name Viagra. Their investigation and cooperation with the local authorities led to his arrest by Waterloo Regional Police and Kitchener Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on April 11, 2008.

The RCMP seized 600,000 capsules and 582,000 tablets of various anabolic steroids and prohormones, ancillary medications and other prescription drugs, as well as dietary supplements from a Kitchener U-Haul storage unit and his Kitchener residence. Also, unprocessed anabolic steroids and erectile-dysfunction drugs from China were seized from a private mail box at the Instant Print Copy Centre & Mail Boxes in Markham.

Federal prosecutor Catrina Braid said in an agreed statement of facts that the steroid seizure is believed to be one of the biggest ever in Canada. More than $1 million in deposits were made to various bank accounts held by Reis between 2002 and 2008.

In a plea deal, he was sentenced to 22 months in jail and 2 months probation.