Online pharmacies and patient safety

A recent article by the San Diego Union-Tribune raises concerns over online pharmacies.  According to the piece, a vast majority of online pharmacies may not be compliant with US Federal standards.   Carmen Catizone, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), was quoted as saying, “We have found that 92 percent of [...]

Explosion in drug websites puts patients at risk

An investigation by the Telegraph (London, UK) revealed that hundreds of websites, many based in Britain, are selling dangerous drugs which should only be prescribed by doctors.
The Telegraph’s investigation revealed websites selling dangerous drugs with few or no checks.
The law states that patients buying drugs over the internet must first undergo a full online “consultation”.  [...]

GPs warn on internet drug sales

BBC News reported that  one in four general practitioners in Britain said they had treated patients for adverse reactions to medicines bought online.  A further 8% suspected they had treated side-effects of internet-bought drugs, the snapshot survey of 420 doctors carried out by GP magazine found.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, a GP in west London and spokeswoman [...]

Canadian sentenced for creating counterfeit drugs

Recently, there has been significant media coverage of the ongoing efforts of IMPACT, the WHO, many national  governments and other organizations to eliminate the distribution of counterfeit medicines.  For the most part, stories of counterfeit medicines have focused on African countries.  While counterfeit medicines are certainly more prevalent in areas of Africa than in many [...]

Patients suffer as WHO politics continue

“Counterfeit” is a term that rarely needs defining, and yet controversy erupted again at the recent meeting of the World Health Organization’s Executive Board over just that. 
IMPACT (International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force) – a WHO partnership of major anti-counterfeiting players has recently proposed a new, stricter, definition of counterfeit medicines to help authorities combat [...]

IAPO calls on WHO member states to protect patients from counterfeit medical products

The International Alliance for Patient Organizations (IAPO) — a global alliance representing patients of all nationalities across all disease areas — issued a press release (included below) following the WHO Executive Board meeting calling on member states to protect patients from counterfeit medical products.  To meet this challenge, IAPO stated that numerous factors must be addressed, [...]

Counterfeit medicines and public health: an update from the WHO and on Bill S-799

According to a report from IP Watch, “No compromise has yet been found to bridge disagreements over the consultation process behind the counterfeit report and over the risk of confusing intellectual property violations with potentially dangerous misrepresentation of medicines.” 
As the WHO Executive Board met last week (January 19-27), a World Health Organization report and draft resolution [...]

China warns of more health scares amid slowdown

According to a recent Reuters report, the global economic slowdown could have serious health and safety implications.
BEIJING, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Chinese food and drug makers struggling in a declining economy could be tempted to cut corners and ignore quality standards, a senior Chinese official warned as the country awaits court verdicts in a tainted [...]

Fake drugs and failed governance

The China Post published an interesting commentary on counterfeit medicines and the global response to this serious threat to public health.
The World Health Organization meets in Geneva this week (Monday, Jan. 19) to decide new measures against the exploding global trade in counterfeit medicines — up to a third of all medicines in Africa and [...]

Counterfeit Drugs: Definitions Matter, but Not as Much as Quality and Safety

 Dr. Kristina M. Lybecker
The safety and efficacy of medicines is something that most patients in developed countries take for granted.  Whether it’s a vaccination, prescription, or over the counter drug, most people assume that the medicines they’re getting are legitimate.  While bogus drugs are most frequently found in the most vulnerable markets – those of [...]