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.