It's all about the money in the multi-billion dollar fake drug industry

Posted: Published on May 4th, 2013

This post was added by Dr P. Richardson

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) -

When your budget is tight and the internet is so available or you just want anonymity, it's quite convenient to order your drugs online. But buyer beware.

"That product is most likely coming from some deplorable, unsanitary, horrible factory somewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, or perhaps someplace else in the world," said Matt Bassiur, vice president of global security for Pfizer.

Bassiur fights a different kind of war on drugs: counterfeit pharmaceuticals -- a multi-billion dollar industry.

"It's very difficult to tell when you're buying your pharmaceuticals online where the actual pharmaceutical is coming from," said Bassiur. "In fact, there are many people in the United States who feel that they are buying from a Canadian pharmacy."

I went online to see just how many sites offer well-known, frequently used drugs. The sources seem endless. There are savings, bargains and promises of a happier, healthier life and the chance to buy without a prescription.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy looked at 10,000 websites offering pharmaceuticals and found 97 percent do not meet the patient safety specifications required.

Not only do the counterfeit drugs often have no active pharmaceutical ingredients or no therapeutic value, but they can be filled with danger.

"Like rat poison, wallboard material, road paint, some of the most horrible things, heavy metals, for example, coming into your body," said Bassiur.

Federal agents recently raided a warehouse on Shop Road in Richland County. It's the former Morris Furniture -- the name has never been updated to South Carolina Liquidations.

See the rest here:
It's all about the money in the multi-billion dollar fake drug industry

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