More action needed on fake drugs

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Federal authorities are working harder to crack down on crooks who sell counterfeit medication. But the counterfeiters are getting more sophisticated.

Awareness of the problem was heightened in Nebraska several years ago when Richard K. Rounsborg of Kearney, owner of Med-Pro Inc. of Lexington, was indicted in a scheme to distribute fake Lipitor and other drugs.

Rounsborg pleaded guilty last month to taking part in the $42 million conspiracy. He could get five years in prison.

The problem of counterfeit drugs is a “growing epidemic,” according to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.

Multimillion-dollar operations broken up in the past year included indictments of 19 people in Detroit for allegedly selling bogus Viagra and other medications to raise money for Hezbollah. Federal authorities seized counterfeit Lipitor and other drugs en route to U.S. patients from one of Canada’s largest Internet pharmacies.

“Dateline NBC” last summer reported on a case in which the cancer-fighting drug Procrit gave a St. Louis patient the strength to do things with her family, such as playing with her granddaughter. Then the drug suddenly stopped working.

A nurse at the cancer clinic discovered the Procrit was fake.

The most disturbing aspect of the case was that the family had followed expert advice in how to avoid counterfeit drugs. They didn’t buy it online. They didn’t buy it over the Internet. They bought it from their local pharmacy.

But the distribution chain for medicine can go through several wholesalers and is difficult to follow. Fake Procrit was shipped by Cardinal Health Inc., one of the nation’s largest distributors of prescription drugs.

The incentive for crooks is obvious. Each dose of Procrit sold for about $500. As “Dateline” reported, it was literally worth its weight in gold.

Federal authorities said the phony Procrit operation distributed about 11,000 boxes of the counterfeit medication and hauled in about $28 million.

The FDA has passed rules intended to make it easier to track drugs through wholesalers, but the regulations have been tied up in court by thousands of independent specialty distributors.

Meanwhile, the distribution network remains vulnerable.

Federal authorities must continue working to implement more effective regulation of the distribution system. Tougher criminal penalties are part of the answer. Federal authorities also need adequate resources to deal with the problem. As Congress contemplates loosening restrictions on importation of prescription drugs, it should strengthen consumer protection against counterfeits.