From the Vancouver Sun:
Police and customs agencies are intercepting frequent shipments of counterfeit erectile dysfunction drugs coming into Canada through Vancouver, an RCMP expert attempting to rein in the illegal industry said Monday.
Some of the counterfeit drugs are as much as 50-per-cent stronger than the genuine product, said Cpl. Norm Massie of the RCMP's Border Integrity Program. Others are less than half the recommended strength.
Even more potentially dangerous is that they could contain untested products.
"We do not even know what else is in there," Massie said of the drugs, which are being seized at both the border and the post office. He added that there are almost daily seizures of the drugs.
Massie said the booming erectile dysfunction industry is a major revenue provider for criminals looking to profit by counterfeiting goods researched, copyrighted and produced by legitimate companies. ...more
Showing posts with label counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
EA awash in bogus malaria medicine, says study
From the (Nairobi, Kenya) East African:
Roughly one-third of the malaria drugs sold at chemists in East Africa’s capital cities are ineffective, a new study has foundTests on a total of 195 packs of malaria medicines bought in Dar es Salaam, Kampala, Kigali, Nairobi and two West African cities showed that 35 per cent either lacked sufficient amounts of active ingredients or did not dissolve quickly enough to work.
The incidence of ineffective drugs was highest in Kenya, with 38 per cent of the 42 packets purchased in Nairobi found to be sub-standard.
Tanzania’s rate was lowest, at 32 per cent, followed by Rwanda, a 33 per cent and Uganda, at 35 per cent.The malaria drugs most likely to fail quality tests were those manufactured in Africa, researchers said.
Nearly half of those medicines were found to be deficient, compared with 24 per cent of drugs of European origin.
The comparative weakness of regulatory systems in Africa may account for the difference, researchers suggest.They also report that 33 per cent of the tested packets contained only artemisinin, an anti-malarial agent produced in China and regarded as an especially promising treatment. ...more
Roughly one-third of the malaria drugs sold at chemists in East Africa’s capital cities are ineffective, a new study has foundTests on a total of 195 packs of malaria medicines bought in Dar es Salaam, Kampala, Kigali, Nairobi and two West African cities showed that 35 per cent either lacked sufficient amounts of active ingredients or did not dissolve quickly enough to work.
The incidence of ineffective drugs was highest in Kenya, with 38 per cent of the 42 packets purchased in Nairobi found to be sub-standard.
Tanzania’s rate was lowest, at 32 per cent, followed by Rwanda, a 33 per cent and Uganda, at 35 per cent.The malaria drugs most likely to fail quality tests were those manufactured in Africa, researchers said.
Nearly half of those medicines were found to be deficient, compared with 24 per cent of drugs of European origin.
The comparative weakness of regulatory systems in Africa may account for the difference, researchers suggest.They also report that 33 per cent of the tested packets contained only artemisinin, an anti-malarial agent produced in China and regarded as an especially promising treatment. ...more
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Free Trade Zones Ease Passage of Counterfeit Drugs
From the New York Times:
Along a seemingly endless row of identical gray warehouses, a lone guard stands watch over a shuttered storage area with a peeling green and yellow sign: Euro Gulf Trading.
Three months ago, when the authorities announced that they had seized a large cache of counterfeit drugs from Euro Gulf’s warehouse deep inside a sprawling free trade zone here, they gave no hint of the raid’s global significance.
But an examination of the case reveals its link to a complex supply chain of fake drugs that ran from China through Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and the Bahamas, ultimately leading to an Internet pharmacy whose American customers believed they were buying medicine from Canada, according to interviews with regulators and drug company investigators in six countries.
The seizure highlights how counterfeit drugs move in a global economy, and why they are so difficult to trace. And it underscores the role played by free trade zones — areas specially designated by a growing number of countries to encourage trade, where tariffs are waived and there is minimal regulatory oversight. ...more
Along a seemingly endless row of identical gray warehouses, a lone guard stands watch over a shuttered storage area with a peeling green and yellow sign: Euro Gulf Trading.
Three months ago, when the authorities announced that they had seized a large cache of counterfeit drugs from Euro Gulf’s warehouse deep inside a sprawling free trade zone here, they gave no hint of the raid’s global significance.
But an examination of the case reveals its link to a complex supply chain of fake drugs that ran from China through Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and the Bahamas, ultimately leading to an Internet pharmacy whose American customers believed they were buying medicine from Canada, according to interviews with regulators and drug company investigators in six countries.
The seizure highlights how counterfeit drugs move in a global economy, and why they are so difficult to trace. And it underscores the role played by free trade zones — areas specially designated by a growing number of countries to encourage trade, where tariffs are waived and there is minimal regulatory oversight. ...more
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Health Canada to crack down on fake pills
From the National Post:
A B.C. woman is fatally poisoned by counterfeit anxiety pills she ordered over the Internet, four Ontario patients die after apparently consuming fake -- and ineffective -- heart drugs, while Quebec vendors are spotted selling knock-off Viagra at a flea market.
The peddling of bogus pharmaceuticals is becoming such a worrisome problem that Health Canada has begun drafting a new anti-counterfeit strategy, expected to include beefed-up enforcement, stronger ties with police and a public-education campaign, a department official confirmed last week. The federal agency is also planning to hold a conference of interested parties to discuss the threat when the plan is released this fall.
For Health Canada officials used to dealing with a "generally compliant industry," counterfeiting represents a novel kind of health issue, said Paul Duchesne, a department spokesman. ...more
A B.C. woman is fatally poisoned by counterfeit anxiety pills she ordered over the Internet, four Ontario patients die after apparently consuming fake -- and ineffective -- heart drugs, while Quebec vendors are spotted selling knock-off Viagra at a flea market.
The peddling of bogus pharmaceuticals is becoming such a worrisome problem that Health Canada has begun drafting a new anti-counterfeit strategy, expected to include beefed-up enforcement, stronger ties with police and a public-education campaign, a department official confirmed last week. The federal agency is also planning to hold a conference of interested parties to discuss the threat when the plan is released this fall.
For Health Canada officials used to dealing with a "generally compliant industry," counterfeiting represents a novel kind of health issue, said Paul Duchesne, a department spokesman. ...more
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Counterfeit toothpaste potentially more harmful than suspected: Health Canada
From the Edmonton Sun:
Health Canada warns consumers that ongoing tests on counterfeit toothpaste have resulted in preliminary evidence of a more harmful bacterial contamination than first suspected.
The report follows a June 29 warning in which the agency said that counterfeit toothpaste products, labelled as Colgate Fluoride Toothpaste Herbal and Colgate Fluoride Toothpaste Maximum Cavity Protection, contained high levels of harmful bacteria.
The agency warns in a new release issued today that if confirmed through further testing, the presence of this bacterium could pose a serious health risk.
Health Canada advises all those who have the phoney toothpaste to immediately stop using it and keep it out of the reach of children. ...more
Health Canada warns consumers that ongoing tests on counterfeit toothpaste have resulted in preliminary evidence of a more harmful bacterial contamination than first suspected.
The report follows a June 29 warning in which the agency said that counterfeit toothpaste products, labelled as Colgate Fluoride Toothpaste Herbal and Colgate Fluoride Toothpaste Maximum Cavity Protection, contained high levels of harmful bacteria.
The agency warns in a new release issued today that if confirmed through further testing, the presence of this bacterium could pose a serious health risk.
Health Canada advises all those who have the phoney toothpaste to immediately stop using it and keep it out of the reach of children. ...more
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Possible counterfeit toothpaste find sparks caution call from Health Canada
From the Canadian Press:
Consumers should be verifying the authenticity of their food and drug products in the wake of a U.S. health recall involving tainted toothpaste that may have made its way to Ontario, Health Canada warned Tuesday.
The federal department is investigating after a tube of suspicious toothpaste was discovered at a southwestern Ontario dollar store Friday.
Spokesman Paul Duchesne said Health Canada is looking into whether the product in question could be linked to a recall south of the border involving counterfeit Colgate toothpaste found to contain an ingredient used in antifreeze.
In the meantime, Duchesne said consumers should look for the eight-digit identification, or DIN, number found on drugs as well as NPN numbers for natural products and DIN-HM numbers for homeopathic products. ...more
Consumers should be verifying the authenticity of their food and drug products in the wake of a U.S. health recall involving tainted toothpaste that may have made its way to Ontario, Health Canada warned Tuesday.
The federal department is investigating after a tube of suspicious toothpaste was discovered at a southwestern Ontario dollar store Friday.
Spokesman Paul Duchesne said Health Canada is looking into whether the product in question could be linked to a recall south of the border involving counterfeit Colgate toothpaste found to contain an ingredient used in antifreeze.
In the meantime, Duchesne said consumers should look for the eight-digit identification, or DIN, number found on drugs as well as NPN numbers for natural products and DIN-HM numbers for homeopathic products. ...more
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