Latest Headlines

Interpol Seizes $6.65 Million in Counterfeit Drugs

• Link to Bloomberg Online

Dust and pollen particles in counterfeit drugs expose offenders in China

• Link to PLoS Medicine

Toxic counterfeit cold medicine in Panama

Panamanian investigators have concluded that at least 174 people were poisoned, 115 of them fatally, by counterfeit cold medicine linked to an unlicensed Chinese chemical plant. The same poison, diethylene glycol, was later detected in Chinese-made toothpaste sold in Panama, setting off a worldwide hunt for tainted toothpaste resulting in a drug alert in the UK, too.

• The New York Times
• UK MHRA Drug Alert

Cases of counterfeit drugs

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK now reports on cases of counterfeit drugs.

The German Federal Bureau of Investigation (BKA) and the OECD warn about counterfeit drugs

The fact that counterfeit drugs are not exclusively a problem of the Developing Countries has now also been made clear by the German Federal Bureau of Investigation (BKA). In October, the bureau published a new study under the title “Drug crime – a growing market?” warning among other things against the dangers of pharmaceutical Internet commerce. The 28-page study can be obtained under www.bka.de in the Internet.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has now also published a report documenting the worldwide increase in counterfeit drugs. In this connection, there are reports on a counterfeit drug from China that was subsequently distributed in no less than 42 countries.

More information on the OECD report can be found here.