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This townhall is an introduction to the topic of fake drugs, and a set of instructions to patients on how to keep safe.
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BUYING MEDICATIONS ONLINE: HOW TO DO IT SAFELY AND AFFORDABLY
Shabbir Imber Safdar, Director, National OutreachPartnership for Safe Medicines
How American Patients Are Protected
• Regulated, closed, secure supply chain, covering:– Pharmacists and pharmacies– Nurses, Physicians– Wholesalers & Manufacturers
• FDA testing of medications• FDA and company pharmacovigilance programs• Physician/Pharmacist supervision of medication choices and protocol
Any break in the hand to hand regulatory chain endangers patients. America is one of the few
countries with a closed, secure, drug supply chain.
How patients are endangered from supply chain breaks
• Common: patients break it– Buying online from a non-VIPPS pharmacy– Buying from an offline non-pharmacy (in the US or
outside)• Less common:– Physicians, pharmacists, and distributors buying
from unlicensed distributors• Uncommon:– Manufacturing supply chain producer
97% of more than 10,000 websites sampled were out of compliance with laws and pharmacy practice standards.
1 in 6 Americans buy drugs on the Internet without a prescription.
5
Patient story: Buying meds online isn’t like buying socks
(where’s the cheapest price?)
• Even if it’s an over-the-counter medicine, it’s still medicine.
• Victims purchased over-the-counter weight loss medication from a website, "www.2daydietshopping.com."
• Purchasers reported many life-threatening side effects including stroke.
• 2 people were convicted in 2011.
Containing sibutramine, a prescription-only ingredient, the pills could lead to• elevated blood pressure• stroke• heart attack• anxiety• nausea• heart palpitations• a racing heart• insomnia• increases in blood pressure
So, where do the fake pharmacies get their medications?
These products are not made in a sterile environment. And then these fakes are sold to American patients from “Canadian pharmacies” who ingest them.
How good are the fakes?
Authentic and Fake Lipitor
5 separate prosecutions of fake medications sold via fake online pharmacies in 2012
Fake Adderall contained Tramadol and acetominophen
Fake Vicodin contained NSAIDs
One case alone estimated $95 million in fraud selling unapproved drugs to Americans
What ELSE are we getting?
YouTube videos and cartoons teach IUD and implant insertion and removal, despite the risk of infection and death.
Patient story: Lorna LambdenEven getting real medication can be deadlyShe bought medication online without a prescription and without a pharmacist to inform her.
Said her family: “Lorna died after taking a small amount of medication which she had purchased on the internet to help with tiredness and sleeping. This medication turned out to be exceptionally dangerous. The Coroner thought Lorna’s death was a tragic accident. Please can this be a warning to anyone purchasing prescription drugs on the internet!”
Lorna Lambden, 27, ordered from an online pharmacy ended up receiving a very powerful sleeping aid without any safety instructions.
Doctors have been found with misbranded drugs
In the past year alone…• Cancer drugs – 134 doctors in 28
states• Osteoporosis – 20 doctors in 10
states• Botox – 350 doctors in 38 statesFragile biologics that require in-clinic use and careful storage are becoming new targets for counterfeiters. The clear liquid could be medication, or it could be saline.
Map graphic courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.
Patient story: Ontario, CanadaA pharmacist in Hamilton, Ontario was arrested in 2005 after 11 people died after being prescribed Norvasc, a heart medication. The pharmacist filled their prescription with pills made only of talcum powder.
The coroner cited “unauthorized medication substitution” in four of the deaths.
At trial it was discovered that he bought medications from a distributor who walked in off the street and drove a white van. Several customers pointed out differences between the medication from this wholesaler and previous doses acquired from reputable wholesalers.
The pharmacist was acquitted by a court in 2007 because prosecutors failed to prove criminal intent. He sued to get his pharmacy license back.
According to LinkedIn, he is the owner/operator of a pharmacy today in Toronto.
UK pharmacy with fakes
• In Wales, four people were sentenced for distributing counterfeit drugs, manufactured in Pakistan, all over Europe. (April 2013)
• 70,000 packs of counterfeit life-saving drugs in UK pharmacies – cancer, stroke, schizophrenia(June 2007)
• The fifth most likely country in which you will find counterfeit drugs is the UK. (April 2013 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report)
Myths: Canadian online pharmacies are pharmacies in Canada with a website
Unless you drive over the border into Canada to a bricks and mortar pharmacy, when you order from an online pharmacy you're getting a company that pretends to sell non-Canadians price-controlled medications for citizens.
These companies are not regulated by Health Canada or the Provincial Pharmacy Boards.
Myths: Canadian online pharmacies sell price-controlled medication from Canada
Canadian citizen Andrew Strempler, 38, sentenced January 9th, 2013 to 4 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Strempler’s company, Mediplan, fulfilled online medicine orders for ten different online pharmacies. FDA discovered that 90% of the drugs they seized from a Mediplan shipment were counterfeit: Lipitor, Diovan, Actonel, Nexium, Hyzaar, Ezetrol (known as Zetia in the US), Crestor, Celebrex, Arimidex, and Propecia.
These were not Canadian medicines, they were fakes from all over the world, mailed from the Bahamas, with labels saying they were filled from Canada.
Myths: Canadian medicines are cheaper• Generics are often cheaper in the US• Not all Canadian medication is price-
controlled
Myth: Canadian pharmacists can legally fill American prescriptions
• Pharmacists in Canada are not allowed to legally fill a prescription written by an American physician.
• Therefore if a “Canadian pharmacy” tells an American to fax their prescription in, they’re either breaking laws in their own country, or there’s no pharmacist involved at all.
Myth: You or your doctor can bill insurance back for imported drugs
The government prosecutes people and physicians who commit fraud by billing government health programs for misbranded drugs. One doctor paid $1 million in fines.
As Gerald T. Roy, of the Kansas City Regional Office of Investigations for the Department of Health and Human Services stated last year, “These investigations and their outcomes not only protect the taxpayer from waste, fraud and abuse but, more importantly, insure our Beneficiaries are not provided misbranded or adulterated drugs that may adversely impact their health.
We will continue to aggressively pursue those who seek to defraud the Medicare and Medicaid programs by administering non- FDA approved products and services.”
Ok, I’m scared.
• How do I stay safe if I’m not in control where the medication comes from?
• How do I stay safe but still save money?
Patient Safety: How to stay safe in the doctor’s office
• Signs of suspicious medication in the doctor’s office.– Look for foreign writing– Ask to see bottle/bag/unit with lot
number and write it down or take a photo
• Pay attention to new or unusual side effects or lack of therapeutic benefit and notify your physician/pharmacist.
Patient Safety: How to find discounts
The NeedyMeds Drug Discount Cardsaves you up to 80% or more offthe cost of:
Prescription Medicines Over-the-Counter Drugs Pet Prescription Drugs
The Partnership for Prescription Assistance will help you find the program that’s right for you, free of charge.
Patient Safety: Comparison shop the VIPPS pharmacies online
VIPPS = Internet pharmacy that complies with state licensing. Look for the seal, and find the list at http://vipps.info
Save Money by Using FDA Approved Generics
Not only can a generic be cheaper than a name brand, but a generic in the US is usually cheaper than a name brand from a fake “Canadian pharmacy”. And safer too.
Handout resources at PSM
• Save Money Safely on Your Prescriptions from Online Pharmacies (brochure)
• Learn 5 Kinds of Poisons Found in Counterfeit Medicines (interactive)
• The 5 Secrets Canadian Web Pharmacies Don’t Want You to Know (webpage)
• SAFEDDRUG: An 8 Step Checklist for Medicine Safety (brochure)• Safe Savings: Tips for Saving Money on Medicine Safely (
brochure)• A Risky Proposition: Opening The US To Foreign Medicines Will
Put American Children At Heightened Risk (brochure)
What can my patient organization do to educate our community?
• Have us conduct a webinar dedicated to your community’s therapeutic or demographic segment.
• Distribute our handouts to your patient community.
• Adopt and echo our “patient safety tips” series. Take 1 or more of our 26 tips and use them in Facebook, Twitter, Email, or your print newsletters.
How can my healthcare professional association educate our community?
• Have us conduct a webinar dedicated to your professionals role in medication handling.
• Distribute the LEADERS guide for physicians, nurses, or pharmacists to your community.
• Adopt and echo our “patient safety tips” series. Take 1 or more of our 26 tips and use them in Facebook, Twitter, Email, or your print newsletters.
Questions and Answers
Our members conduct joint education projects with us to improve patient safety in their communities. Our members include groups that represent patients, pharmacists, physicians, nurses, distributors and manufacturers.
To start educating your community, contact:Shabbir Imber Safdar
Director, National [email protected]
415-683-7526
