Critique of RFID Technology as Supply Chain Policing Device
For a concise summary of an article published in CSO, a publication dealing with private security issues, that challenges the perception that RFID technology will prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the legitimate pharmaceutical supply chain, check out this entry in Passport, a blog by the editors of Foreign Policy magazine.
| Comments (0)FDA Warns of Counterfeit Drugs and Glycerin
The FDA issued two counterfeiting warnings last week. On Friday, May 4, it advised pharmaceutical manufacturers, suppliers, drug repackers, and health professionals who compound medications to be vigilant in assuring that glycerin, a sweetener commonly used worldwide in liquid over-the-counter and prescription drug products, is not contaminated with diethylene glycol (DEG).
Last Tuesday, May 4, the FDA issued a warning to consumers regarding 24 apparently related Web sites that may be involved in the distribution of counterfeit prescription drugs. According to the warning, on three occasions during recent months, the FDA received information that counterfeit versions of Xenical, an obesity drug manufactured by Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. (Roche), were obtained from two different Web sites. None of the capsules ordered off the Web sites contained the active ingredient in authentic Xenical. Roche identified the two websites involved in this incident to the FDA as brandpills.com and pillspharm.com. The FDA then determined that these websites are two of 24 sites that appear on the pharmacycall365.com home page under the "Our Websites" heading. Four of these sites had previously have been identified by FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations as being associated with the distribution of counterfeit Tamiflu and counterfeit Cialis.
| Comments (0)Bill Introduced to Increase Penalties for Drug Counterfeiting
The Counterfeit Drug Prevention Act of 2007 (HR 780) has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Reps. Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Gene Green (D-TX). The bill would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish criminal penalties of a fine and imprisonment for not more than 20 years, or both, for any person who commits a prohibited act relating to counterfeiting knowing that: (1) the conduct concerns the rendering of a drug as a counterfeit drug; (2) the conduct will cause a drug to be a counterfeit drug; or (3) a drug, held, sold, or dispensed is a counterfeit drug. Increases the term of imprisonment to any term of years or for life if the use of a counterfeit drug is the proximate cause of a consumer's death.
UN Calls on Member Countries to Tighten Laws to Curb Fake Drug Sales
The United Nations' International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) Annual Report, released Thursday, March 1, calls on member countries to tighten up laws to curb the illegal manufacture and sale of fake medicines.
According to the most recent assessment by the World Health Organization (WHO), between 10 and 30 per cent of drugs used in developing countries are counterfeit.
Last November, WHO launched the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT) to fight the growing trade in counterfeit drugs. IMPACT's first meeting takes place in Prague on the 13th of March.
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