Over 16,534,428 people are on fubar.
What are you waiting for?
As part of the global campaign to abolish counterfeit medicines, The Peterson Group, a non-profit organization on its movement against counterfeiting, has tied up with authorities and officials to confiscate six million tablets and medical devices used to manufacture of fraudulent drugs across Great Britain. These medicines and tools are amounting to $1.5 billion.
Among the confiscated drugs are slimming pills which, as the workers admit to, are very popular among young women even if it is only being sold along the streets. Now that this information has been out on public, a warning from Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) was released stating, “Gangs are moving away from cocaine and heroin to focus on health products”.
Britain, along with other developed countries is surprisingly being flooded with dangerous fake slimming pills, cancer medication and other potentially fatal drugs as criminal gangs move into the pharmaceutical market.
Fake and unlicensed medicines worth nearly £16million have been seized in the last week alone in a record haul by drugs inspectors.
One expert claimed the trade in counterfeit medication had become the most profitable of all crimes. Reviews are also admitting that counterfeiting is considered to be one of the most lucrative industries which does not only happen in developing countries but is also rampant in developed nations. In the United States alone, fraudsters earn an estimated $1 Billion profit every year.
While these operations continue to flourish, the authorities are making painful but successful confiscations every now and then. Now that it has reached a global scale and even dominating online pharmaceutical sites, health officials and NGOs are being more aggressive.
Within this year, INTERPOL has discovered £51.6 million worth of counterfeit medicines in 115 countries in its global search. The Peterson Group has participated in the raid in Jakarta, Indonesia, where a secluded building in Kota was raided with reports of illegal manufacturing. A total of $500,000 of drugs including Cialis and Viagra were also confiscated.
Dubbed as Operation Pangaea because of its global scale, Interpol has taken down illegal operations being transacted in a residential address led by an individual with a foreign identity, stalls setting their businesses in an open street, internet sites which have products ranging from athletes foot to cancer medicines. Large internet sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Google are already on their feet in an effort to provide assistance.
Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) and many non-profit institutions continue to give out warnings to refrain from buying medicines without proper prescriptions from a legitimate and licensed doctor in the internet. The goal of eliminating any illegal practice of distributing counterfeit medicines strengthened after new type of medicines, Tamiflu starts to plague the online community. Those who are not aware are exposed as victims of fraudulent acts that can lead to a very hazardous effect to an individual and if not treated immediately, a great risk of death is to be faced.
Tamiflu is used to treat flu (influenza) and other related viruses. The widespread of unaccredited fly-by-night pharmacies is also one of the sources of its increasing number. The Peterson Group, an online community countering the widespread of counterfeited medicines and scams on smuggled medicines, with the help of authorities has exposed four stalls selling copies of counterfeited Tamiflu along with some unbranded Viagra and Cialis medicines in Jakarta, Indonesia last July, 2015.
These medicines are not only circulating on developing nations, though with the lack of security but are also manufactured in leading countries such as the United States and China. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today warned consumers about a potentially harmful product represented as “Generic Tamiflu” sold over the Internet. FDA tests revealed that the fraudulent product does not contain Tamiflu’s active ingredient, oseltamivir, but cloxacillin, an ingredient in the same class of antibiotics as penicillin.
Although the FDA actively monitors the Internet and when appropriate purchases and analyzes drug products, consumers who purchase drugs using an online pharmacy can protect themselves by knowing how to recognize a legitimate Internet pharmacy and how to buy medicines safely online. Legitimate internet pharmacies are licensed by the appropriate U.S. Board of Pharmacy and follow the applicable laws and regulations.
The following can be a basic of identifying counterfeit medicines:
• Check the packaging and label and look for the features described below.
• Tamiflu comes in four different formulations:
1. Tamiflu® 75mg (capsules)
2. Tamiflu® 45mg (capsules) New Packs only
3. Tamiflu® 30mg (capsules) New Packs only
4. Tamiflu® dry powder for suspension 12 mg/ml
• If you have any doubts or suspicions about a product you have purchased, contact your pharmacist or physician immediately
Roche, the legitimate manufacturer of Tamiflu has also released an official statement regarding the counterfeiting of their products. George Abercrombie, president and CEO, Hoffman- La Roche Inc. states, "We take the counterfeiting threat extremely seriously, and continually adapt our procedures. Diminishing the threat, of course, requires active cooperation of all parties involved -- regulatory and law enforcement, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and ultimately consumers."
