Interpol: Chad's Story - Don't Let this Happen to YOU

Interpol in an effort to educate consumers regarding the dangers of purchasing on-line pharmaceuticals created a marketing campaign directly to the consumer.

This Interpol video tells the story of Chad and his purchase of blood pressure medicine over the internet. His story, initial rationale and end result to the purchase hopefully will drive home the dangers to consumers-at-large regarding the dangerous consequences of buying prescription drugs over the internet.



Secure Pharma Chain endorses agencies and the pharmaceutical industry in general, creating more consumer campaigns that warn and educate about the dangers of adulterated, fraudulent, substandard and counterfeit medications.

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

Canadian Man Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for Online Cancer Drug Scam

This week, Hazim Gaber, 22, of Edmonton, Canada, was sentenced in Phoenix by U.S. District Court to 33 months in prison for selling counterfeit cancer drugs using the Internet. He was ordered to pay a $75,000 fine, as well as $53,724 in restitution, and to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.

Garber admitted to selling counterfeit experimental cancer drug sodium dichloroacetate, also known as DCA, to at least 65 victims in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands between October and November 2007.

DCA is a highly sought cancer drug for its reputed ability to shrink tumors in lung cancer, breast cancer and brain cancer. However, the drug is experimental and not yet approved for use in either the United States or Canada.

The white powdery substance that Garber supplied to the victims was later determined through laboratory tests to contain starch, dextrin, dextrose or lactose, and contained no DCA. The packages also contained a fraudulent certificate of analysis from a fictitious laboratory and instructions on how to dilute and ingest the bogus DCA.

The sentencing is part of a larger department-wide effort led by the Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property (IP Task Force) to combat the growing problem of IP violations and to protect the health of American consumers.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Thomas S. Dougherty of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Sexton of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona. Significant assistance has been provided by the Edmonton Police Service, the Alberta Justice Office of Special Prosecutions-Edmonton, the Competition Bureau of Canada, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Trade Commission and the Alberta Partnership Against Cross Border Fraud. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided assistance in this case. The case was investigated by the Phoenix FBI Cyber Squad.

XStream Systems applauds the IP Task Force and the FBI Cyber Squad for bringing this criminal to justice and cautions consumers against buying medications from questionable sources.

This story appears to be a classic case of a relatively unsophisticated individual taking advantage of and preying on the frantic needs of the sick with bogus drugs being peddled over the internet. His global scheme was aided by the relative anonymity and world wide access of the Internet which allowed him to market and sell his fakes to the desperately ill.

Unfortunately this tale is not an isolated occurrence but is something that happens all over the world on a daily basis. This appalling crime is being perpetrated by far more sophisticated and nefarious criminals who take advantage of people’s frantic need for healthcare and kill millions each year.

For more information visit:

US. Justice Department at http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/August/10-crm-958.html

“Canadian Man Charged in Online Cancer Drug Scam” at SecurePharmachain Blog

Fake FDA Agents Pursue Consumers for Bogus Drugs

The FDA is warning the public about an international extortion scam by criminals posing as FDA special agents and “fining” consumers who purchased drug online or via telepharmacies. The FDA press release appears below:

FDA Warns Public of Continued Extortion Scam by FDA Impersonators

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning the public about criminals posing as FDA special agents and other law enforcement personnel as part of an international extortion scam.

The criminals call the victims -- who in most cases previously purchased drugs over the Internet or via "telepharmacies" -- and identify themselves as FDA special agents or other law enforcement officials. The criminals inform the victims that purchasing drugs over the Internet or the telephone is illegal, and that law enforcement action will be pursued unless a fine or fee ranging from $100 to $250,000 is paid. Victims often also have fraudulent transactions placed against their credit cards.

The criminals always request the money be sent by wire transfer to a designated location, usually in the Dominican Republic. If victims refuse to send money, they are often threatened with a search of their property, arrest, deportation, physical harm, and or incarceration.

"Impersonating an FDA official is a violation of federal law," said Michael Chappell, the FDA's acting associate commissioner for regulatory affairs. "The public should note that no FDA official will ever contact a consumer by phone demanding money or any other form of payment.”

FDA special agents and other law enforcement officials are not authorized to impose or collect criminal fines. Only a court can take such action, with fines payable to the U.S. Treasury.

Anyone receiving a telephone call from a person purporting to be an FDA or other law enforcement official who is seeking money to settle a law enforcement action for the illegal purchase of drugs over the Internet should refuse the demand and call the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations Metro Washington Field Office at (800) 521-5783 to report the crime.

In addition to posing as FDA officials, criminals have posed as special agents of the DEA, FBI, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Customs Service, as well as U.S. and Dominican prosecutors and judges. In response, the FDA, in conjunction with various federal, state, and local agencies, is actively pursing criminal charges.

The FDA also reminds consumers to use caution when purchasing prescription drugs over the telephone or the Internet. In addition to the increased risk of purchasing unsafe and ineffective drugs from Web sites operating outside the law, there is the danger that personal data can be compromised.

For more on FDA’s concerns about unlawful drug sales on the Internet, see http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ProtectYourself/default.htm.

Washington Post: US Crackdown Targets Counterfeit Drugs

Fake medicines are a growing enterprise. In a November 20th article in the Washington Post they give out excellent statistics and report on an international law enforcement effort, code named Pangea that we have blogged about several times recently.

Operation Pangea conducted organized raids on five continents to combat counterfeit drugs.

In the U.S. the crackdown uncovered 700 alleged packages of fake or suspicious prescription drugs including Viagra, Vicodin, and Claritin, and shut down 90 alleged rogue online pharmacies. The international operation took down 72 Web sites, seized nearly 1,000 packages and found more than 167,000 suspected illicit and counterfeit pills. Some may have as much as three times more of an active ingredient than is typically prescribed; others may be placebos.

According to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, a trade group, Americans spent $254 billion on prescription drugs last year, up 1.8 percent from 2007.

The increase of internet pharmacies has given rise to rogue pharmacies posing as legitimate sites. One site under federal investigation for selling erectile dysfunction medications like Viagra and Cialis states that it is headquartered in Canada, has a warehouse in India and is licensed to sell in the U.S. through Minnesota. However, the website is registered in China and is hosted in Russia.

These sites are very hard to track and the Food and Drug Administration discourages consumers from purchasing medication online except through Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice (VIPP) pharmacies, which are certified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABAP). The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy maintains a list of roughly 4,000 online pharmacies it says are questionable.

The global crackdown involved a half a dozen U.S. agencies and 24 countries in a week long intensive sweep. "For the criminals, at least," said Richard Halverson, unit chief at the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, "we're telling them that everybody's looking."

To view the entire article visit: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112002772.html.

UK Man Sentenced for Distribution of Counterfeit Anti-Anxiety and ED Drugs

Yesterday, Mr Harish Gami, a 41-year old man, was sentenced in Aylesbury Crown Court, to 8 months jail time suspended for 2 years for distributing unlicensed and counterfeit drugs.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) investigation uncovered over 100,000 dosages of medicine including controlled drugs (benzodiazepine derivatives) used for anxiety, insominia, seizures and muscle relaxants. The controlled drugs seized were Valium, Diazepam, Alpazolam, Clonazepam, Temazepam, Lorazepam and Zolpidem.

There was also counterfeit Viagra, Levitra and Cialis uncovered as part of the operation as well as the unlicensed erectile dysfunction drug Kamagra.

The fake drugs were presumably shipped from Pakistan and then stored in plastic baggies in plastic bins underneath the accused stairwell with the intent to distribute them on the internet.

MHRA Head of Enforcement, Mick Deats, said that successful prosecutions such as this send a clear signal to those contemplating the sale and supply of counterfeit medicines.

"The MHRA strongly advises people against buying medicines online from unregulated websites where the risk of being provided with a dangerous product is greatly increased."

To view more on the sentencing, visit: www.pharmaceuticalonline.com.

FDA Warns Consumers Internet Flu Drugs May Not Be What you Think!

Agency goes Covert to Pull the Plug on Fake and Unapproved H1N1 Drugs

Friday, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning against purchasing drugs over the Internet that claim to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure H1N1 influenza virus. The FDA has gone undercover to secretly purchased Tamiflu, an antiviral drug used to treat the H1N1 flu, online. Afterwards, the samples were analytically tested to determine their quality and authenticity.

The two antiviral drugs approved by the FDA for treatment and prophylaxis of the 2009H1N1 influenza virus are Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate) and Relenza (zanamivir).

What they found in the purchased online samples was shocking. One package contained nothing more than talc and acetaminophen. Four contained various levels of oseltamivir but were not approved for use in the United States. Several of the products purchased did not even require a prescription from a health care professional. Additionally, the products did not arrive in a timely enough fashion to treat someone infected with the H1N1 influenza virus, or with an immediate exposure to the virus.

FDA warned consumers that purchasing prescription drugs online results in products that are from an unknown origin, uncertain quality, and could pose an undue risk to your health. Consumers are urged to purchase their prescriptions from only licensed pharmacies approved for distribution of these medicines.

To view entire FDA warning visit:
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm186861.htm.

To view the FDA consumer guide to purchasing drugs online visit:
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/ucm080588.htm.

Are Internet Pharmacies Going to Be the Next Domestic Healthcare Crisis?

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

According to information from the FDA (with our thoughts in italics):

• U.S. Consumers buy between $700 and $800 million worth of drugs per year from foreign internet pharmacies.

This is of course is an estimate and most likely a much higher figure. Given the lack of regulation, oversight and total inability to control, this is a conservative estimate at best.

• Packages purchased by U.S. Consumers from foreign internet pharmacies will grow to an estimated 5 million in 2009 from 2 million in 2008.

Again a very high number but consider that these packages will contain multiple products and likely products with a high number of dosages.

• Over 60% of drugs purchased from foreign Internet pharmacies are estimated to be counterfeit, fraudulent or adulterated.

This figure is an increase from 2008 of 10%. These products include non-approved generics, knock offs, semi-effective clones of real drugs with some medication, toxic substances and at best harmless placebos. Bottom line there is a high likelihood that the products bought on-line from a foreign internet site will not be the drug you purchased, totally ineffective and likely harmful to consume.

• U.S. Consumers in 2009 will purchase and consume over 3 million counterfeit, fraudulent or adulterated medications from purchases made through foreign internet pharmacies.

This is conservative number and most likely many millions will be impacted because of the huge quantity of counterfeit product that will be consumed. Three million is just doing the math and considering that only one person will consume part of the fake medication that is coming from overseas. Most likely one package will contain multiple products and many hundreds of dosages that will be consumed by several individuals.

Given these statistics it is somewhat of a given that medications bought through foreign internet pharmacies will have a significant negative impact on healthcare in the United States in 2009. Some will not receive the proper pharmaceutical treatment that they have been prescribed while others may be ingesting toxic substances that will harm their health worsen their condition.

It is also a concern that many of these products will be introduced into the legitimate pharmaceutical supply chain through returns and unscrupulous means.

That is why XStream Systems is continuing its endorsement of consumers only buying products from providers that utilize an authentication technology in their production, distribution and dispensing. Authentication is an important component of validating the quality and efficacy of the drug so that it meets the highest quality and standards that U.S. consumers demand.

To find out more information about XStream Systems and our solutions visit us at www.xstreamsystems.net.

Is Your Medicine Filled with Empty Promises?

Your doctor prescribed a medicine to cure what ails you, and at first the prescription seems to really do the trick, but lately it’s just not living up to its billing. What went wrong? Until recently few of us, would even utter the thought: Could it be counterfeit?

Counterfeit drugs are on the rise, and what’s worse they are infiltrating our legitimate supply chain. So what can you as a consumer do to minimize your exposure to counterfeit drugs?

The FDA has a very informative website to keep consumers abreast of developments. Listed on the site are the latest recalls and issues. Also listed on the site are steps consumers can take to minimize their risks:

1. Only buy from authorized sources such as your local pharmacist.
2. Avoid buying from internet pharmacies (unless VIPP approved). Over 50% of medicines bought over the internet are found to be counterfeit.
3. Avoid buying prescriptions from outside the US.
4. Be vigilant in examining your personal medication: Does it look the same? Taste the same? Are the seals and tamper proof packaging in tact?
5. After taking your medication, be sure to report any new and usual side effects to your physician.

To further combat counterfeit drugs, the FDA has developed a website reporting system to track consumer’s adverse reactions to prescriptions. Often consumers do not associate adverse reactions to the possibility that their medication could be counterfeit and some of these reactions (as seen in the recent heparin cases) can be fatal.

In this day and age, it really is “let the buyer beware!” A savvy consumer will be vigilant in their inspection of medication, cautious in their purchase, and insistent on the highest quality of standards from their pharmacist and his suppliers.

In the United States, you should report incidents to the Medwatch program by clicking the logo on the right. You can also call by phone: 1-800-322-1088.