Pharmaceutical News 2.0

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The Twin Cities men allegedly sold drugs mislabeled as Cialis, Viagra, Propecia, Xanax and other such medications.

Drugs to treat erectile dysfunction, hair loss, weight loss and anxiety apparently are so in demand that a pair of Twin Cities men allegedly made a business out of selling imported fake versions of those drugs.

A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted Nicholas David Lundsten, 26, of Spring Lake Park, and Patrick James Barron, 29, of Fridley, for the interstate sale of mislabeled drugs and for importing controlled substances. The indictment was filed in federal court Wednesday.

The indictment said Barron and Lundsten “caused the introduction and the delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of misbranded drugs,” including, 3,600 bogus pills labeled as Cialis; 10,419 bogus pills labeled as Viagra; 340 pills falsely labeled as Levitra; 1,582 pills falsely labeled as Propecia; 39,288 pills falsely labeled as Xanax and 27,336 pills purported to be Phentermine.

Cialis, Viagra and Levitra are known treatments for erectile dysfunction. Propecia is used to treat baldness. Xanax is a sedative used to treat anxiety. Phentermine is a weight-loss drug. The bogus Xanax and the fake Phentermine are classified as non-narcotic Schedule IV controlled substances.

Read the rest of this article on the introduction of fake drugs in Minnesota.

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By Andrewly A. Agaton, Alphonsus Luigi E. Alfonso and Arian Anderson R. Rabino

After melamine-laced milk and lead-contaminated toys that left consumers paranoid last year, another health danger is coming—in the form of drugs that either do not help people get well or are toxic.

In 2008, the Department of Health (DOH) reported that one in every 10 medicines available in the market is counterfeit.

Republic Act (RA) No. 9502, otherwise known as “Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008,” and RA No. 8203 or the “Special Law on Counterfeit Drugs,” classify drugs as chemical compounds or biological substances intended for use in treatment, prevention or diagnosis of diseases in man or animals.

RA 8203, meanwhile, defines counterfeit drugs as any product with the wrong or no active ingredients, which result in the reduction of the drug’s safety, efficacy, quality, strength, or purity.

According to Nemia Getes, officer-in-charge of the Regulation Division 1 of the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD), counterfeit drugs, which can either be “fake” or “unregistered,” are illegal and hazardous.

“Unregistered drugs are products without the trademark, identification mark, or name which is registered for use in this country. These are unlawful, imported drug products,” she told the Varsitarian. “Fake drugs contain no amount, or have a different active ingredient, or possess less than 80 percent of what the drug claims as part of its ingredients.”

These products are deliberately mislabeled with respect to the name and source, with fake packaging. They can claim to be either branded or generic products, Getes added.

Dr. Benjamin Co, executive director of the UST Center for Drug Research, Evaluation and Studies (Cedres), said expensive medicines are commonly faked.

“A cheap drug is rarely faked because everybody can afford it. So, most of the over-the-counter drugs are not faked. Expensive medications which cost 3,000 pesos to 4,000 pesos per vial are the usual drugs replicated and sold as fake,” Co said.

UST Cedres conducts drug researches, such as bioavailability, which determine whether chemicals are absorbed by the human body; and bioequivalence, the process of comparing the effects of drugs. It also conducts clinical research and monograph testing for the academe, pharmaceutical industry, and private and public agencies to ensure the safety and effectiveness of drugs.

Fake drugs kill

Co, former member of the National Adverse Drug Reaction Advisory Committee, said the proliferation of fake and unregistered drugs is a serious problem, and the lack of access to medicines as well as poverty are partly to blame.

Read the rest of this article on what The Philippines are doing to fight fake drugs.

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mPedigree is a mobile application that allows users to text-message at no cost, a quality-authentication code found on the packaging of anti-Malarial and other medications to a provisioned mobile shortcode in order to guard against counterfeit drugs believed to be responsible for an alarming number of deaths, especially in the developing world.

With the mounting cost of healthcare in Africa coupled with the dangers associated with using fake drugs, the mPedigree innovation is an enormous boost to healthcare on the continent.

Earlier this year, mPedigree won the 1st place position in the Emerging Markets category of the Nokia Innovators contest and has won a number of other honours since then.

Read this post on the fight against fake drugs on the Patients and Patents blog.

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