Marvin D. Shepherd, PhD Shepherd
The Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) has long reported on the growing issue of pharmaceutical spam advertising—and now SophosLab Canada has taken a closer look at the solicitation of counterfeit products online.
According to their new report, “The Partnerka: What Is it and Why Should You Care?,” one of the most influential counterfeit networks are the Russian partnerka, which are comprised of hundreds of well-organized spammer affiliate networks that fan out across the world—all working to drive as much traffic to partner sites (and stores) as possible.
And while today’s email services have anti-spam filters to help protect our inboxes, the Internet offers many other ways for the partnerka to peddle their counterfeits, including blogs, online forums and social networking sites.
In addition to buying advertisements on these platforms, spammers employ black hat search engine optimization methods to promote their Web sites and position them in front of Web users conducting searches on similar items. These techniques include creating Web sites that trick search engines into thinking they contain helpful content to Web searchers, as well posting spam messages on blogs, message boards and social networking sites—which are not subject to the same legal and technological requirements as their email counterparts.
As technology changes, so too do the tactics of unscrupulous counterfeit drug peddlers. The PSM reminds Web users to be wary of Web sites or Internet advertisements that promise cheap prescription drugs without physician authorization.
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counterfeit drugs
counterfeit drugs
Have you ever received a hospital bill and wondered why the medications you were given during your stay seemed to cost more than the same medications purchased from your community pharmacy?
There are many reasons for that. First, patients who are treated in hospitals tend to be sicker, often requiring expensive and intensive therapy for critical conditions.
The medications you receive in a hospital are also accompanied by a heavy dose of round-the-clock expert care. A dedicated team of physicians and pharmacists continually monitors and adjusts your medications to help you get better.
This close attention to how your body reacts to all the medications you are receiving is an important part of hospital care. The prescription drug warfarin is an example of the importance of monitoring. Although this is an inexpensive blood thinner, hospital patients who take warfarin daily must be monitored by a pharmacist to make sure that their blood doesn’t get too thin. Likewise, nonprescription medicines like aspirin can cause real problems when paired with other medications while you are hospitalized.
Read the rest of this article on safe medication use.
safe medication
safe medication
The Partnership for Safe Medicines seeks stronger regulations and penalties for online pharmacies
WASHINGTON—The Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) issued the following statement regarding the International Internet Week of Action, code named Operation Pangea II, intended to curb illegal actions involving medical products. PSM is a group of organizations and individuals dedicated to protecting consumers from counterfeit medicines.
As an advocate for drug safety, the Partnership for Safe Medicines applauds this international effort, which has the potential to positively impact patients around the world. PSM congratulates INTERPOL, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT) and the law enforcement agencies from the 24 participating countries who took part in the International Internet Week of Action (IIWA).
International cooperation is essential to shutting down rogue online pharmacies and curbing the widespread illicit sale of substandard, unapproved and counterfeit drugs. While investigations in a number of countries are still ongoing, Operation Pangea II has already resulted in a series of arrests, revealed 751 Web sites engaged in illegal activity, 72 of which have now been taken down, and the seizure of nearly 167,000 illicit and counterfeit medicines. The exemplary collaboration between drug regulators, the customs services and the police is evident in these cases.
Read the rest of this statement here.
counterfeit medicines
coutnerfeit medicines
