Stopping the flow of bogus drugs into the legal American drug supply is a daunting task. Predicting how criminals think and how to stop them is frustrating at best. The cost of the chase is expensive.
Efforts on the part of the FDA are stalled. As of Spring 2008, the only government activity is found at the state level, most noticeably in California.
In 2005, Katherine Eban, author of Dangerous Doses, testified before the U.S. Congress on the issue of counterfeit drugs and their distribution inside U.S. borders. Frighteningly, there was so much denial of the real issues, that Representative Gil Butknecht (R-MN) proclaimed that he didn't understand what the problem was; in fact, he declared the counterfeiters themselves to be entrepreneurs.
In 2004, the FDA declared it would begin requiring an "pedigree" for every legal drug, a way of tracking drugs as they leave the manufacturer and make their way through the distribution and warehousing systems, to the pharmacist. According to Eban, the warehousing companies objected, filed lawsuits, and the mandate continues to be tied up in court as of Spring 2008. Little or no progress has been made in the interim.
The real burden of making sure we get the originally manufactured drugs has fallen, in part, to those who contract for, design and develop packaging. As the drugs are manufactured, then packaged in their blisters, boxes, vials, syringes or other types of packaging, they are sealed with hologram-type stickers, paired with RFID (radio frequency identification device) chips, or closed with some other form of unique sealer that cannot be easily replicated.
Those who dispense the drugs, like pharmacists, know to look for these specific types of seals to confirm the drug is bona fide.
Unfortunately, most patients and caregivers do not.
