Counterfeit Drugs

     The underground worlds of the illegal drug trade, counterfeit (‘legitimate’) medicines, terrorism and international crime all converge in a way that threatens the American consumer. Whether purchasing medicines over the Internet, buying drugs at the local pharmacy chain outlet, or being dispensed medication in a hospital, the risk of being poisoned or injured (from taking the wrong medication or an altered dose of the correct medication) is high.
 

     To understand this vast, and often complex, area of pharmaceutical trade, we must first take a global perspective. The world of drug manufacturing and distribution is international; the immense scope of this commerce makes it especially susceptible to the entry of criminal elements. There is very little ‘testing’ of medications by regulatory bodies, and hence the perpetrators give little attention to the accuracy and purity of their fake medications—choosing instead to focus on the appearance of pills, and packaging. On average, the cost to manufacture an illegal version of a legitimate drug may be less than one cent per pill in China or India, but this very same pill may sell for a quarter (or even as high as a dollar) in the United States. Even under the most attractive insurance ‘drug plan’, twenty-five cents (or a two thousand five hundred percent profit) would likely still fall far below the cost of the real drug and be considered a bargain. In this way, ‘forged’ drugs generate huge revenues for their criminal manufacturers. There is evidence to indicate that some involved in the illegal drug trade have switched their efforts to the area of counterfeit medications because of significantly lighter penalties in the event of capture and conviction.