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Rogue Pharmacy Using Social Media
Earlier today, the
Guardian's Technology Blog posted a malware roundup to alert readers of scams and spam
making their way around the Internet.
Disturbingly, author Chris
Arthur found that a known rogue
pharmacy has set up shop on Twitter.
The
Official Canadian Pharmacy at Canadian-Drugshop.com uses the Twitter handle
@canadianshop to boldly display its offerings, including
"bestsellers" like erectile dysfunction treatments, prices for each
and acceptable payment methods-all accompanied with links to send visitors
directly to Canadian-Drugshop.com. |
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LegitScript
reviewed the pharmacy in February 2009 and
classified it as a rogue online pharmacy-one that:
- Violates, appears to violate or encourages violation of
federal or state law or regulation;
- Does not adhere to accepted standards of medicine
and/or pharmacy practice, including standards of safety; and/or
- Engages in fraudulent or deceptive business practices.
"Canadian-drugshop.com
is an affiliate of the notorious, Russian-based Internet drug ring called
GlavMed," said John Horton, President of LegitScript, the company used by
Google to monitor its Internet pharmacy advertisements. "This criminal
network consists of thousands of websites-some but not all engage in spam-that
sell drugs without a prescription, including fake or unapproved pharmaceutical
products. Patients who buy from this website, or the thousands that are like
it, risk their own health."
Horton said that social
media is increasingly a target, but that it is possible to keep the space
clean. "Twitter, Facebook and other social media programs are popular with
marketers for the simple reason that they work as a method of reaching Internet
users. Although social media websites can't police every page on their website,
it's certainly possible to run daily sweeps to identify the fraudulent and bad
actors-as a result that improves the overall experience for legitimate users of
websites and social networks."
The Partnership for Safe
Medicines (PSM) addressed this very concern in its March remarks to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) during its call for comments on the promotion of FDA-regulated medical products
using the Internet and social media, encouraging the FDA to monitor social
media to pinpoint users who are peddling illicit products online.
PSM encouraged the FDA to
work with Twitter and other social networking platforms to verify
pharmaceutical accounts, much as Twitter has done with its beta verified
accounts for well-known individuals and organizations to prevent identity
confusion and allow users to obtain information from authentic sources.
New policies and stiffer
penalties for those who participate in counterfeit drug schemes must also be
addressed, said PSM Vice President Dr. Bryan Liang, MD, PhD, JD.
"We've said before
that new policies and legislation must prohibit financial transactions for drug
sales of unlicensed pharmacies and create substantive criminal penalties for
any party-including websites and search engines-that engage in the illegal sale
of contraband or counterfeit drugs," said Liang. "If the FDA needed further
evidence that illicit drug sellers were using the Internet and social media to
peddle unsafe medical products, I'd say this is it."
One thing is clear: unless we press the issue with
regulatory bodies, our elected officials and Internet companies, rogue pharmacies
like Canadian-Drugshop will continue to pollute these platforms with incentives
for dangerous products.
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Top News
US: FDA Makes Recommendations for
Supply Chain Security
The U.S. Food
and Drug Administration today sent a letter to companies and a wide range of
other key stakeholders detailing the agency's concern over cargo and warehouse
thefts of FDA-regulated products. The products stolen have included
prescription and over-the counter medicines, medical devices, and infant
formula. The FDA will continue to work closely with manufacturers and
wholesalers to find ways to better secure the nation's supply chain, which
protects public health. ("FDA Urges Industry to Take Additional Steps to
Prevent Cargo Theft," Press Release, April 28, 2010; Read the letter here)
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World News
EU: Parliament
Approves Measures to Combat Counterfeit Drugs European Parliament
members have overwhelmingly approved plans for strengthening draft EU
legislation on potentially fatal counterfeit medicines. In a vote on Monday, members
of the environment and public health committee backed a report calling for
tougher measures by 51 votes with none against. The report extends the scope of
the planned new law to all pharmaceutical sales on the internet. It also
recommends an EU logo for approved sites in order to distinguish between legal
and illegal 'online pharmacies'. ("MEPs back new move to tackle fake drugs," The
Parliament, April 27, 2010; Story
here) West Africa: Counterfeit Drugs Make Resurgence A massive
wave of trafficking counterfeit drugs has resumed in West
Africa in defiance of a concerted international effort to
dismantle the network. Guinea Bissau and Senegal reports say the manufacture,
distribution and consumption of fake drugs had faded for at least three months
since several heads of states in the region launched an international action
last year. In Senegal,
considered the principal hub of the network, police are investigating the
origin of a large consignment of confiscated drugs, including paracetamol, efferalgan,
and sprochm induxatra. ("Fake drugs back in W. African markets," The Monitor,
April 29; 2010; Story
here) Nigeria: NAFDAC Director Pledges Major
Reductions in Counterfeit Drugs The director
of Nigeria's
National Agency for Food, Drug, Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul
Orhii, has promised agency to bring down the rate of counterfeit drugs in the
country to less than a percent. He discussed the efforts of the agency in
tracking down counterfeit manufacturers who import expired drugs into Nigeria from China. Orhii, also disclosed that
his team in conjunction with other security agencies recently intercepted seven
out of 21 trucks alleged to be carrying over 63 containers of expired and
counterfeit drugs. ("NAFDAC Intercepts Trucks of Fake Drugs," Leadership
Nigeria, April 28, 2010; Story
here)
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Events
October 8, 2010 - PSM's Inaugural 2010
Interchange. Washington, D.C.The Partnership for Safe
Medicines invites you to save the date for an intimate conference
bringing together patient groups, providers, pharmaceutical company quality
experts, enforcement personnel, policymakers, regulatory agency experts and
other interested parties to discuss key issues around counterfeit drugs and
other unsafe medicines. Link
here. |
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About the Partnership for Safe Medicines
The Partnership for Safe Medicines is a group of organizations and individuals that have policies, procedures, or programs to protect consumers from counterfeit or contraband medicines. For more information, please visit SafeMedicines.org.
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