Despite penalties, counterfeits continue

Another prescription drug-related crime is drug counterfeiting, which got significant attention in March 2011 when CBS News’ “60 Minutes” reported on the problem, including a tour of a drug counterfeiting operation.


In March, the Senate passed S. 1886, the Counterfeit Drug Penalty Enhancement Act, which toughens punishments for criminals who produce and traffic counterfeit medications, drawing praise from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.


Still, the problem hasn’t disappeared. In May, the Food and Drug Administration warned that a counterfeit version of Teva’s attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drug, Adderall, was circulating online. One of the most common avenues for the distribution of counterfeit drugs is through rogue Internet pharmacies. In March, Portland, Ore.-based LegitScript, a company that verifies online pharmacies, published a report indicating that at least one-third of such rogue pharmacies were operating under the domain name registrar Internet.bs.