42 Police Raids In Argentinean Counterfeit Drug Probe

In Argentina, 42 raids were conducted as part of continuing investigations into counterfeit and illegal drug distribution by organized crime.

According to the Argentinean news organization, Momento 24, Argentinean authorities are continuing their two year investigation of counterfeit drug sellers that operate within workers' unions that involve the use of expired drugs, counterfeiting and murder.

Last week Judge Norberto Oyarbide ordered over 40 raids on suspected workers’ union sites in Capital Federal, Avellaneda, San Justo and other interior locations within Argentina.

As reported by Partnership for Safe Medicines: Among the organizations raided were employment organizations for truckers, metalworkers, air navigators, lottery, port, petrochemical, turf, post and telecommunications, teachers and automotive industries.

In Argentina, healthcare including doctor care and prescription drugs are distributed to the majority of Argentineans’ through their employment union organizations.

According to Momento 24:

• Police collected documentation on the purchase and distribution of cancer drugs, hemophilia medication and AIDS drugs.

• Police are looking for possible connections with drug companies, including San Javier of businessman Nestor Lorenzo, previously arrested and prosecuted for organized crime medicine distribution in 2009.

In earlier reports by Momento 24, Mr. Lorenzo has testified in the investigation for the murders of Sebastián Forza, Damian Ferron and Leopoldo Bina. He testified on the chain of suppliers and creditors of Forza, who, allegedly, sold a shipment of counterfeit hemophilia medications to the National Drug and Technology Agency (Anmat).

According to an earlier Momento 24 story, one of Mr. Lorenzo’s previous business partners in a small chain of drug stores, Luis Marcelo Tarzia died in jail after his arrest for allegedly being the local manager of a Mexican drug gang that set up a methamphetamine lab in Ingeniero Maschwitz.

This is a cautionary tale to industry stakeholders and consumers of pharmaceuticals within developed countries over the possible interdiction of dangerous medications within the legitimate supply chain.

Unfortunately this type of crime is becoming commonplace within the legitimate supply chain in the UK, Germany and even the United States.

Because of its high profit and low risk, counterfeiting or dealing in adulterated, fraudulent or sub-standard medications has become a lucrative trade and has drawn the attention of organized criminal elements. The real danger however is that it not only impacts those involved with the transaction but has potentially lethal implications for unsuspecting consumers who take these dangerous knock offs.

All members of the pharmaceutical supply chain must proactively take measures to protect their inventories.

To read the entire Momento 24 story, visit: http://momento24.com/en/2010/11/26/at-least-42-police-raids-on-the-case-of-counterfeit-drugs/

To read the entire story on Partnership for Safe Medicine, visit: http://www.safemedicines.org/2010/12/argentina-federales-investigate-fake-drug-crime-ring-60.html

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

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.

Government Agencies Guiding Pharmacists to Dispense Information on Counterfeit Drugs

Counterfeit drugs within the mainstream supply chain have become so prevalent that the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), leading regulatory agencies within the United Kingdom, are guiding pharmacists to distribute information on the dangers of counterfeit drugs with the prescriptions that they dispense to all of their patients.

This is a cautionary story for all developed countries, including the United States that the issue of counterfeit medications invading its safe and ethical supply channels is coming your way.

Until now many, including leading pharmaceutical industry experts, have considered it remote that a developed country could and would be infiltrated by the scourge of counterfeit medications.

Patients to get counterfeit warning with each prescription
Tuesday , March 31, 2009

New guidance to patients to raise public awareness of fake medicine and its dangers has been launched by the RPSGB and MHRA.

Pharmacies nationwide will receive the guidance, which has been developed in conjunction with patient groups to ensure it is clear and easy to read. Pharmacies will be asked to distribute the new double-sided postcard-sized leaflet to patients in their prescription bags.

The leaflet offers advice to patients about what counterfeit medicine are, how to minimise purchasing fakes and what to do if they suspect they have been sold or supplied counterfeits.

One side of the postcard explains the safest way to purchase medicines and the other outlines 'The dangers of faking it'.

The RPSGB's head of practice Heidi Wright says: "Counterfeit medicine does not work and can make you seriously ill. It's important that people are aware that they should always get their medicine from a reputable source such as a pharmacist or a registered online pharmacy site which has the RPSGB's Internet Pharmacy Logo - and I hope these postcards will help to achieve that."

The MHRA is also looking at ways to target those that use the internet to buy counterfeit medicine.

Guidance for pharmacists explains the background to counterfeit medicine production and highlights how organised criminal gangs have become involved in the production of illegal medicines, supplying them through the internet, often to unwitting patients.

It offers pharmacists invaluable practical advice on the correct steps to take when they encounter suspected counterfeit medicines. These steps include reporting illegal websites to the MHRA to ensure immediate patient safety.

pharmafocus.com

Fake Drugs – Where Do They Come From and Who’s Distributing Them?

Profile of a Counterfeiter – 26 Busted in Purported International Drug Ring

It seems like every week we see a news story on fake drugs being found, being seized, or worse their effects on the unsuspecting buyer. So it lends the questions – Where do they come from? Who’s distributing them?

The answer can be almost as scary as the fake drugs themselves. Counterfeiters come from a variety of backgrounds, some with pharmaceutical experience and some not --such as in our last story about the self-taught chemist, Fernando Reis, who started off counterfeiting steroids and then expanded his operation to Fake Viagra. Perhaps the most unsettling of the group are those who are professional criminals. These individuals have a variety of interests including gun trafficking, illegal drugs, counterfeit apparel and other illegal activities.

Newsday recently reported on an international Drug Ring that was also trafficking Oxycodone, anabolic steroids, untaxed cigarettes and counterfeit sneakers. The Federal authorities have charged 26 people in the case. Twenty-one have been arrested and five are still at-large. Among those being sought are two New Jersey men, Myfit Dika of Wyckoff and Kujtim Lika of Little Falls, both 44, who are believed to be major figures in the ring.

The investigation began in 2003 in the Balkans, Canada and the Netherlands and they eventually tracked the suspects to New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, the FBI said.

This particular case portrays the dangers and challenges of tackling counterfeiting. Investigations into organized crime rings take longer and global supply chains involve cooperation between governmental regulatory agencies to bring them down. The longer the investigation, the longer the public is exposed.

Most disturbing is the question of medication safety and are they getting into the legitimate supply chain? Many would say not, but they have….

...And do you really feel comfortable wondering if that same guy who is supplying the fake Nikes made overseas just may be supplying the same medicine that controls your heartbeat????