Part one of two

The last 12 months have brought a lot of positive change when it comes to the fight against rogue online pharmacies. Based on the efforts of our members, partners, and stakeholders, it is evident that more security measures have been taken and additional efforts are underway to educate and protect consumers from dangerous counterfeit drugs.

Here’s a look at some of this past year’s highlights:

• Operation Pangea VII Successes: This spring, during Operation Pangea VII, 200 law enforcement agencies, with support from CSIP and private sector companies, seized 9.4 million fake and illicit drugs. The operation included 100 more enforcement agencies than the previous year, and also took on a new focus to crack down on dangerous fakes–social media.
• Visa Acquirers Guide Released: Our member, Visa, with input from our ex-officio member, LegitScript, developed the “Online Pharmacy Guide for Acquirers” to educate on the dangers of the Internet pharmacy market, including illegal online pharmacies’ failure to comply with basic pharmacy licensing procedures, drug safety, and applicable laws and regulations.
• New Track and Trace Technology: Mobile applications and other innovations were introduced to protect patients from counterfeit drugs, using QR codes, liquid barcoding, serial numbers, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology and more.
• Government Agencies Combated Black Market Pharmacies: Agencies including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took actions to identify and strengthen efforts to combat the threat of black market pharmacies, including forming investigations teams, sending warning letters and pressing charges.
• PSM Interchange Participation: The Partnership for Safe Medicines hosted its fifth Annual Interchange (PSM 2014) in Washington, D.C. Members of CSIP staff attended this event, which attracted members of law enforcement, healthcare professionals, anti-counterfeiting companies, and other stakeholders, who convened to discuss the threat counterfeit medicines pose to consumers. Prominent speakers from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), the Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) and the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP) addressed what is being done to protect consumers from counterfeit drugs.

CSIP and its member companies are grateful for the collaboration and hard work of our members, partners and law enforcement, and are excited about the positive developments in the fight against illicit online pharmacies this year. Fortunately, there were enough successes this year to include in a two-part series. We look forward to sharing the additional developments from 2014 with you in Part Two in the near future.

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The Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies (CSIP) and our 13 member companies have the shared goal of helping address the growing problem of consumer access to illegitimate pharmaceutical products on the Internet. Continue to read this blog for updates on CSIP’s education, enforcement and information-sharing efforts.