Criminal organizations have found yet another way to make money:
counterfeit prescription drugs, a growing problem that is concerning
drug companies and policymakers alike.
In 2003, 10 percent of all medications sold worldwide were
counterfeit, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said at a briefing this week.
That's equal to $32 billion of the drug industry.
"Technology has allowed criminals to counterfeit drugs and work them
into the system here in America," Rogers said.
He added that the Food and Drug Administration was originally created
to help prevent counterfeiting, and the United States has one of the
safest drug systems in the world.
"(Counterfeiting) used to be a problem that was confined to developing
countries. We're now seeing it in one of the safest and most regulated
countries in the world," John Theriault, vice president of security at
Pfizer Inc., told United Press International. "It's clearly much worse
than it was five years ago."
According to an investigation conducted by "Dateline NBC" shown at the
briefing, the counterfeit drug market is incredibly profitable.
Counterfeiters can sell phony prescriptions for $1 in instances where
every real pill would cost $8 at wholesale. A company could import
$1.5 million pills a year, resulting in a $10 million profit.
Even experts who were brought in by the "Dateline" investigation had
trouble distinguishing good counterfeit pills from the real ones.
Labels: No Prescription, Online Pharmacy, Prescription Drugs
# posted by Network @ 9:24 AM
