Feature Article #1

Congress on the Right Road to Stop Drug Counterfeiters

Bryan A. Liang, MD, PhD, JD
Earlier this year, Reps. John D. Dingell (D-MI 15), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ 06) and Bart Stupak (D-MI 01) introduced the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2009 (H.R.759).  This legislation indicates that Congress is beginning an important journey to address several real threats that substandard and counterfeit drugs [...]

admin | June 18th, 2009 | Continued

Feature Article #2

To Import or Not To Import Pharmaceutical Drugs

That is the question that many of our lawmakers are asking.  Senators Dorgan (D-ND), Snowe (R-ME), McCain (R-AZ) and Stabenow (D-MI) brought that question to the forefront when they introduced the "Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act of 2009" (S. 525 ) in March.  Currently waiting to be placed on the Senate calendar, the [...]

admin | June 11th, 2009 | Continued

Feature Article #3

Partnership for Safe Medicines Letter to President Barack Obama

April 8, 2009
President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
On behalf of the Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) , a group of organizations and individuals that have policies, procedures, or programs to protect consumers from counterfeit or contraband medicines and dedicated to the safety of the drug supply, I would like to congratulate [...]

admin | June 10th, 2009 | Continued

Feature Article #4

Opinion: When Is a Pandemic Not a Pandemic?

The World Health Organization has backed itself into a corner on its Pandemic Influenza Phases system and the so-called swine flu. WHO knows it and is working on bureaucratic escape routes. But the real problem is what these alert systems mean for national governments that have detailed pandemic response plans — particularly the United States.
Read [...]

admin | June 10th, 2009 | Continued

Feature Article #5

Education…The Prescription for Purchasing Medications

The cost of counterfeiting is much more than money.  In too many cases, counterfeiting costs human health and in some cases lives.  For example, a group of clinics in Sierra Leone were closed last week for allegedly administering counterfeit drugs.  Other cases involving online drug sellers have claimed the health and lives of patients who [...]

admin | June 4th, 2009 | Continued

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U.S. Senate vote deferred on drug importation measure

June 8th, 2009 • admin • 0 comments • Related • Filed Under

A U.S. senator on Monday said he dropped plans to try to add a measure allowing importation of lower-priced medicines from other countries to tobacco legislation after being told the Senate will consider the drug issue separately.

Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan said that Majority Leader Harry Reid had promised to bring the drug importation measure to a Senate vote “very soon.” Dorgan said he expected the vote to happen within “a matter of a couple weeks.”

Last week, Dorgan said he planned to offer the importation measure as an amendment to a pending bill that would grant the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate cigarettes.

Read the rest of this article on drug safety here.

Partnership for Prescription Assistance Prepared To Help Washington Workers Hurt by Recession

May 28th, 2009 • admin • 0 comments • Related • Filed Under

Spokane, WA – The ‘Help is Here Express’ bus tour will be stopping in Washington throughout the week of June 1st - 5th at various cities in order to help uninsured and financially-struggling Washingtonians access information on programs that provide prescription medicines for free or nearly free. With the state’s unemployment rate now hitting 9.1 percent – and having steadily risen for two years – the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) bus tour is raising awareness of patient assistance programs among state residents who face layoffs and loss of health care benefits.

The PPA, a nationwide effort sponsored by America’s pharmaceutical research companies, provides a single point of access to more than 475 patient assistance programs that help those who are uninsured or struggling financially. Nearly 200 of the programs are provided by pharmaceutical companies.

Read the rest of this article on prescription assistance programs here.

Are generic drugs a bad bargain? - Safe Meds

May 26th, 2009 • admin • 0 comments • Related • Filed Under

Just when Beth Hubbard should have been feeling great, her health fell apart.

A 34-year-old housewares designer in the St. Louis area, Hubbard had recently gotten married. She liked the creativity of her career. And she’d conquered her mild depression and fatigue with a combination of exercise, rest and medicine, including the antidepressant Wellbutrin XL. But in the fall of 2006, shortly after she refilled her prescription — her pharmacy giving her this time Budeprion XL, a generic version of the drug — her good health gave way.

Read more about this safe medication issue here.

NIH Announces New Program to Develop Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases

May 21st, 2009 • admin • 0 comments • Related • Filed Under

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is launching the first integrated, drug development pipeline to produce new treatments for rare and neglected diseases. The $24 million program jumpstarts a trans-NIH initiative called the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases program, or TRND.

Read the rest of this article here.

Cheerios… A Threat Larger Than Counterfeit Drugs?

May 21st, 2009 • admin • 0 comments • Related • Filed Under

On May 5, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) administered a warning against General Mills regarding the claim that Cheerios® Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal has the ability to lower cholesterol.  Basically, the FDA cited General Mills for marketing Cheerios® as a cholesterol-reducing drug.  I believe the FDA’s points are valid and factual, but I have to ask - Shouldn’t our agency watchdog be focusing greater attention on the operators of thousands of Web sites and the spammers who peddle contraband or counterfeit drugs to American consumers every day?  What are the consequences for these dangerous marketing practices?

The Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) strongly suggests that the only way to curb the sale and distribution of counterfeit drugs is to introduce warnings and reprimands against dangerous online drug sellers and then to follow up and make sure they stop.  Yes, it is important for consumers to understand that eating Cheerios® is not the solution to lowering cholesterol.

Read the rest of this article on counterfeit drugs here.

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