Fake Pharmacies Showing up in USA
MSNBC released this report today:
msnbc.com Video Player
Quote:
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Members of Congress investigating shortages of crucial drugs are targeting fake pharmacies allegedly set up solely to buy and resell the drugs at huge markups.
Two senators and one U.S. representive on Wednesday sent letters to about two dozen operators of pharmacies, requesting detailed information about their business, particularly their purchases and resale of cancer and other life-saving drugs.
Three of the targets are individuals believed to have obtained licenses to operate both a pharmacy and a prescription drug wholesale business — solely to make money by taking advantage of the growing drug shortage crisis that's disrupting hospital and other patient care.
Lawmakers: Fake pharmacies price gouging on drugs
Quote:
WASHINGTON - It can be very disconcerting when a patient with a disease like cancer goes in for a drug treatment and discovers that the drug their doctor has prescribed for them is unavailable. Yet, during the past few years, that has been a serious and continuing problem for hospitals and other health care providers across the country.
Some of the shortages have occurred because of manufacturing issues such as quality-control problems, detected by increased inspections and regulations.
But over the past year, congressional investigators looking into why such shortages are occurring say they have found another possible reason: fake pharmacies.
Jay Cuetera, has Stage Four cancer. Last summer, as he was about to receive chemotherapy, he was suddenly informed the drug he needed wasn't available.
"When my nurse told me that the drug wasn't available, that I wouldn't be able to do my chemo that day, I was literally shocked," Cuetera said. "How could this be happening in the United States of America?"
Around the same time, records show that a pharmacy in this building in North Carolina, LTC pharmacy was buying the same drug - fluorouracil - supposedly to fill prescriptions. But when North Carolina regulators did an inspection, they found only this: no records, no equipment.
Fake pharmacies popping up, misleading patients | 9news.com
As if we needed more scams going on.:pulling_hair_out:
Re: Fake Pharmacies Showing up in USA
Happens everywhere unfortunately...the FDA approve stuff but can't really be expected to ensure supply....real quandary unfortunately. The amount of fake or counterfeit drugs around is astounding...and it is impossible to tell a lot of the time because the fakes are so identically packaged...counterfeit drugs still trademarked and ip protected medications( they are expensive to recoup the r&r costs and take advantage of the limited time before other companies can make substitutes) are being sold via reputable pharmacies in blissful ignorance are a big problem in Asia at the moment. It is spreading due to the huge financial rewards in the crime and the difficulty detecting the fakes.
