British men warned about buying dodgy and dangerous fake Viagra online

Medical Specialists® Pharmacy have worked tirelessly for many years to warn men about the dangers of buying cheap and potentially fatal fake Viagra pills, both online and from that dodgy geezer down the pub.

If price is the concern with men, it need not be anymore! Since Pfizer’s Viagra patent expired in 2013, other drug manufacturers can now produce ED treatments that contain Viagra’s active ingredient, sildenafil. To put it into context, prices of generic sildenafil from Medical Specialists® work out from as little as £1.54 a tablet through an online consultation, and just £1.35 if the patient already has a private prescription ready to send to the pharmacy.

Therefore, there is no excuse for following the lead of one 36-year-old man from Herefordshire, who last week spoke to the Daily Mail Online about his “horrible” experience as a way to warn other men about the dangers of buying inexpensive and fake Viagra pills online.

The countless warnings the Manchester-based pharmacy has given over the years – such as describing the filthy environment the pills are produced in and listing some of the toxic ingredients sometimes added to the ingredients of the counterfeits – has therefore been validated with the unfortunate male featured in the Daily Mail.

The low price of these poorly made knock-off erectile dysfunction (ED) tablets might appeal to people in a day and age where money is tight, but why put your life at risk for the sake of a few quid?
Another reason why men might be driven to buying cheap impotence pills online – on top of some money saved – could possibly be the potential embarrassment of speaking to a doctor about problems ‘down there’.

There is no reason to be afraid of speaking to a GP though, he or she will have previously spoken to thousands of men suffering with similar issues and it will be nothing new to them. Erectile dysfunction is a very common condition, especially prominent in older men. Furthermore, around half of all men between the ages of 40 and 70 will have it to some degree.

Of course, there are obviously men who will flat-out refuse to see a doctor face-to-face and fortunately there are genuine online pharmacies out there such as Medical Specialists®, who provide online consultations where men can answer a series of medical questions and have this reviewed by a GMC-registered doctor. The doctor will assess the patient’s suitability for that particular drug using the answers provided, and the patient will be contacted if there is an issue raised or if further information is required.

The man in question featured in the Daily Mail story had come out of a long-term relationship and was getting back into the dating scene. However, the 36-year-old chef began his dinner-date with a young woman, and soon began to suffer with something a little more than ‘nerves’.

The father-of-two felt his heart rapidly beating, his head thumping and he was pouring with sweat. Things were so bad he even feared he was having cardiac arrest.

It soon hit home that the symptoms were his own doing. Feeling optimistic about the night’s proceedings, the man had swallowed a small, blue, diamond-shaped pill before the date, one of 10 ‘Viagra’ pills he had bought online for £25. Bearing in mind that Viagra is manufactured in boxes of 4 and 8 tablets, this is the first clue that all is not what it seems.

“Before I even got to the date, I started to feel really hot and sweaty,” he said. “I thought it might be nerves — but then my heart started going really fast, I got a headache and felt a bit woozy.”

“I felt horrible for two days,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep, my nose was blocked, I was dehydrated and I had red blotches all over my face.” After a quick check online, he quickly realised his ED medication didn’t resemble a genuine Viagra pill and he had been sold fakes.

“I crushed them up and flushed them all down the toilet, because there was no way I was going to take them again,” he said.

“I only took them as a back-up. I’d never had any problems before, but I just wanted to be sure. I would never buy anything like that online again, and I wouldn’t recommend anyone else to do so either.”

Not surprisingly, the date didn’t go too well. Instead of a passion-filled evening, the man found himself alone in bed at home and considering a trip to A&E.

Hopefully men around the country will take heed from this man’s experience, but unfortunately figures demonstrate how the illegal market in fake or unlicensed erectile dysfunction pills has increased in recent years.

In the last year alone, officials have seized in excess of £11 million worth of these types of drugs. This represents a rise of 3 times the amount seized from the year previous and a 15-fold increase on the £740,000 haul apprehended during 2013.

For those concerned about how to spot a fake online pharmacy from a real one, Medical Specialists® has already listed some of the most common red flags to be aware of when browsing online.

As mentioned earlier, there is no need to be embarrassed about experiencing ED. It is a common condition that more men are finally starting to feel comfortable talking about. Men need not seek out their mate down the pub for pills that could contain any number of dangerous chemicals, or buy cheap fakes from illegal websites, especially when genuine Viagra or genuine generic sildenafil ED treatments can be obtained from a well-respected, fully registered MHRA-approved pharmacy like Medical Specialists®, from as little as £1.35.

Potentially deadly haul of fake impotence drugs seized in Scunthorpe

Yesterday the The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) confirmed that over 320,000 doses of unlicensed erectile dysfunction medicines have been seized by their enforcement officers.

The huge quantity of potentially fatal unlicensed impotence drugs came about following raids at addresses across Scunthorpe yesterday, carried out by MHRA officers.

The illegal and possibly highly dangerous haul of unlicensed drugs have a reported estimated street value of over £990,000.

Alastair Jeffrey, MHRA Head of Enforcement, commented: “Selling unlicensed medicines is illegal and poses a serious health hazard.

“Unlicensed medicines can be dangerous as they may contain impurities, incorrect ingredients, and there is no way of knowing if they are manufactured to acceptable standards of quality and safety.
“Criminals involved in the illegal supply of medical products aren’t interested in your health – they are only interested in your money.

“Be careful buying medicines online – only buy from a site that is registered with MHRA and displays the new EU common logo.

“MHRA will continue to track down and prosecute those who put the public’s health at risk.”
Here at Medical Specialists® Pharmacy, we only supply genuine branded medication such as Pfizer Viagra. Moreover, our pharmacy will only dispense medication after a patient has undergone a consultation with one of our fully registered doctors, who will make sure the medication is both right and safe for the patient – or if a private prescription is posted in, issued by another GP. In addition to that, we are fully registered with the National Pharmacy Association and the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

With thousands of illegal fake online pharmacy websites still plaguing the internet, offering ‘discounted’ medicines with ridiculous (and illegal) deals on prescription drugs – i.e. ‘buy one get one free’ – it can be difficult to know who to trust or where to buy from.

On a daily basis Medical Specialists® speak to concerned patients. With this in mind, here are some warnings signs and red flags when trying to determine if an online pharmacy is legitimate and who they say they are:

. No requirement of a doctors’ consultation for prescription medication.

. Long delivery times, sometimes up to several weeks. This is due to the drug being imported from a foreign country before it gets to you.

. The price of the medication is a lot cheaper than what would be expected, sometimes by as much as 70%.

. The website does not list any contact details, e.g. a telephone and fax number, email address, company address or details of its pharmacists, doctors, etc.

. The company registration and VAT number should both be clearly stated on the website. Both of these are a legal requirement.

. A registered Pharmacy such as Medical Specialists® Pharmacy will display a clearly visible and clickable GPhC green cross logo on their website, together with its pharmacy number. This number can be checked on the GPhC pharmacy register to see if the pharmacy exists, as follows:

. As an extra level of security, reassurance and peace of mind for the consumer, from 2015, legimate pharmacies had to display the EU common logo on every page of the website where selling to a patient occurs. This helps members of the public to identify websites that can legally sell medicines. Like the GPhC logo, the EU common logo is clickable, but the hyperlink will direct people to the that pharmacy’s listing on the MHRA’s list of registered online pharmacies and should state that the pharmacy has been approved by the MHRA, as follows:

Fraudster given stiff prison sentence for selling fake male impotence drugs

A notorious serial conman involved in the selling of fake and dangerous viagra knock-offs has found out the hard way that crime doesn’t pay after being jailed for 10 years.

Fraudster Martin Hickman, 54, of Lily Lanes, Ashton-under-Lyne, flogged counterfeit viagra, slimming pills, and other dangerous drugs via the internet, duping unsuspecting customers into parting with their cash for cheap, dangerous products sourced from India.

His illegal dealings had led to Hickman enjoying a lavish lifestyle being able to afford several luxury apartments, a huge detached four-bedroom farmhouse, property in Marbella, and dove a Range Rover and a Bentley.

Investigators from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) found his business also sold sex toys and products claiming to boost penis size, and officers subsequently swooped onto his farmhouse in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.

They discovered Hickman had money stored in bank accounts in Malta, the Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man, transferring money through each of his accounts in addition to a local bank in the UK in an attempt to launder it.

Despite being under the MHRA’s radar, Hickman ignored this and carried on running the website, MSH World Traders. He even moved his offices and took on more staff.

Then in May 2007, Hickman received a three month prison sentence and hit with a £20,000 fine for breaching a High Court order that had ordered him to immediately stop selling drugs, including the counterfeit viagra, and shutdown the website.

Unfortunately, this warning did not deter the greedy crook and a newspaper later uncovered evidence that his enterprise MSH World Traders was still active and raking in the money, despite the fact Hickman was locked up.

Then in 2009, further investigations into his business dealings brought him back to the courts, where he admitted his guilt to five counts of money laundering and supplying fake and unlicensed drugs. He was again jailed, but this time for two years.

A proceeds of crime hearing was conducted at Southwark Crown Court in April 2012 and found Hickman had raked in over £15.4 million from his illicit dealings. Therefore, the court demanded he pay back £14.4 million within six months, or be jailed for ten years.

However, the conman fled to Spain whilst still owing £13.9 million and a European Arrest warrant was issued for his arrest in March of this year after numerous tipoffs to his whereabouts, including one letter sent to a newspaper that claimed Hickman was “living it up in Marbella nightclubs and bordellos non-stop” with “British taxpayers’ money”.

He was finally arrested in Spain in July, extradited back to the UK in August and must now face the prospect of the next decade of his life behind bars, whilst the massive debt must still be paid.

Nick Price, Head of Crown Prosecution Service Proceeds of Crime said: “Martin Hickman’s crimes were unscrupulous and greedy, putting people’s health at risk for the sake of pure profit. Having failed to pay his debt, he has now begun a ten year sentence behind bars.

“Mr Hickman’s arrest, extradition from Spain and subsequent imprisonment back in the UK should send out a clear message to criminals seeking to hide themselves and their assets abroad: if you won’t pay up, we will find you and you will go to jail.

“We would like to thank Titan, the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit and International law enforcement colleagues for their tireless work on this case.”

Dublin man fined €22,000 for selling fake Viagra in his shop

A Dublin man faces a huge €22,000 fine (roughly £18,216) after submitting a guilty plea to stocking a counterfeit version of prescription-only erectile dysfunction medication Viagra, in addition to a variety other medicines at his bargains shop.

The 55-year-old from Woodstown Park, Knocklyon, pleaded guilty to 11 offences in breach of the Irish Medicines Board Act, after investigators discovered the products at his business, Breathnach’s Bargains, at St Dominic’s Shopping Centre, Tallaght.

The Dublin native was prosecuted after two separate inspections at the premises by an officer from the Irish Medicines Board (IMB), who swooped on the shop on September 28th, 2011 and again on April 11th, 2012.

Brenda Kirby, an enforcement officer with the IMB, informed Judge John O’Neill at Dublin District Court that she visited the shop and spoke to the man’s 26-year-old son after receiving a tip-off from customs officers.

Ms Kirby subsequently spotted a “large number of unauthorised medicinal products”. The 26-year-old male promptly spoke to his father on the telephone and he informed Ms Kirby the shop would promptly stop selling the products.

As many of the patients of Medical Specialists™ Pharmacy are fully aware, Ms Kirby stressed that the Viagra brand is produced only by the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, and anything bearing this name that is not produced by Pfizer, is counterfeit. After Pfizer received a sample of a product seized at the shop, they unsurprisingly confirmed both the drug and its labelling was fake.

A whole host of medications are sent to Pfizer thousands of times per week by authorities and it only takes a few days to find out how genuine they are. Fake drugs can comprise of numerous disgusting and lethal ingredients such as brick dust, chalk, paint and pesticides.

Then on April 11, 2012, Ms Kirby went back to the shop and again found medicinal products on sale. The 55-year-old owner admitted to possessing Kamagra tablets – which are not licensed for sale in Ireland or the United Kingdom -  and counterfeit Viagra tablets.

He also confessed to selling other prescription items, these being Max Strength Decongestant Tablets and Vicks Sinex Decongestant Capsules.  Calpol in 100ml and 140ml bottles, Diarrhoea Relief Capsules and Beechams All in One Tablets were also being sold at the premises.

Judge O’Neill convicted the man and handed down fines totalling €22,000 to be paid within four months or a 21 day prison sentence will be enforced. His son pleaded guilty to three charges relating to keeping Max Strength Decongestant Tablets and Vicks Sinex Decongestant Capsules in stock for supply. He must donate €1,000 (roughly £826) to charity by May 27 to receive the benefit of the Probation Act, otherwise he will be convicted and fined a larger amount.

The shocking truth about counterfeit drugs is laid bare

After speaking with many of the thousands of patients who choose Medical Specialists as their pharmacy, we are only too aware of the concerns, worries and hesitations that some people have when it comes to dealing with online pharmacies. We are part of a minority in that we are a fully registered, genuine pharmacy that prescribe genuine branded medication – No cheap and potentially fatal knock-offs like many online ‘pharmacies’!

And now an investigation carried out by WKYC’s Channel 3 News in America has exposed more of the murky, dangerous world of counterfeit drugs after shocking estimates show that around $75 billion worth of counterfeit drugs could have been obtained last year unknowingly.

Some may remember the widely reported 2012 case of fake cancer drug Avastin being circulated in the supply chain. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had to alert medical practices in the U.S. that were suspected to have purchased and used the fakes. Avastin is an injectable medicine that is used to treat cancers of the brain, colon, kidney and lung. It is usually administered to patients in clinics, hospitals, and doctors’ offices. The fake Avastin worryingly did not contain the medicine’s active ingredient, bevacizumab, resulting in patients not receiving much needed treatment.

The new investigation comprised of the purchasing of medications online that the investigators thought looked credible enough. The websites were found by searching ‘online pharmacy’ into Google. Then, they decided to try and obtain two incredible popular medications – erectile dysfunction treatment Viagra, and the ‘bad’ cholesterol-lowering medication Lipitor.

The websites offered a variety of medications; some being brand-name prescription medications, whilst others were cheaper generic alternatives. Proudly displayed on the websites were images of the American and Canadian flags, and pictures of what appeared to be doctors and pharmacists…So far so good.
However, next is where suspicions started to arise. ‘Female Viagra’ and ‘Viagra super active’ were just two of drugs being offered on some of the websites. Viagra has not been given approval to be used by women. Also, although the UK patent on Viagra expired earlier this year, meaning certain pharmaceutical companies can produce medications containing Sildenafil (Viagra’s active ingredient), Americans will have to patiently bide their time until 2020 for a generic alternative to hit their shores.
Therefore, ‘Viagra super active’ should ring alarm bells immediately! It is either Pfizer-made Viagra, or none at all! In a move that should also set alarm bells off, two websites shockingly offered free samples of prescription-only medications with orders, such as another erectile dysfunction treatment, Cialis. Obviously there are questions within a doctor’s consultation that need to be asked to patients before any prescription item is approved and dispensed to the patient.

After ordering Viagra and Lipitor from three websites, it was a few later before anything arrived. Packages then turned up from exotic locations like China, India and Pakistan, not America or Canada. Customs forms on the packages certainly raised eyebrows. One said the package contained ‘plastic beads’, another listed ‘cards’ and a third said ‘harmless medicine’.

The drugs seemed to be genuine upon a quick glance. However, one not-so-minor problem… received was a generic Lipitor – not what the investigators had paid for. In another order, only half of the Viagra tablets had arrived that had been ordered and paid for.

Next, the issue was; were the pills actually real? Samples of the drugs were then sent off to Pfizer’s lab in Groton, Conn., for testing.

Brian Donnelly is director of investigations for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. He is a qualified pharmacist, with 22 years of FBI work under his belt. Donnelly explained some shocking things about how the tablets were most likely produced.

“The active ingredient in the chemical could be in one part of China. The person who makes the tablets could be in another part of China, and then the person who packages it could be a third person,” Donnelly says.

Donnelly explains only one thing (besides big profit) is of importance to the counterfeiter. “It’s not whether the medication works or not. It’s whether or not it looks like the product. They may use floor wax on it to give it a shine. They may use automobile paint to give it colour. They’ve used ink cartridges for colour. We’ve seen boric acid used as a dilutent to give the tablet its size and shape. One of the favourite things for making the tablets is sheet-rock.”

Donnelly’s team works together with local law enforcement to stop dozens of counterfeit operations each year they bust the dirty labs which are the polar opposite of the hygiene, sterile environments where the genuine article is produced.

“You have no idea how that drug’s been manufactured. You have no idea how it’s been stored,” Donnelly says.

In many cases, it is near impossible to distinguish a fake medication from its real counterpart, so agents use a device known as a TruScan. The device blasts a laser which analyses the drug’s chemical composition to determine authenticity.

“As you can see, it failed. So this is counterfeit. It’s counterfeit,” Donnelly says after scanning one of the Viagra pills.

However, not only was the pill fake, it gets worse. In one batch of counterfeits, the anti-inflammatory medication diclofenac was discovered to be mixed in, for seemingly no reason whatsoever.

“When you get something that’s contaminated with another drug, you have the potential for getting someone sick,” Donnelly warns.

Los Angeles crackdown on counterfeit Viagra and Cialis

Just miles from the popular Los Angeles International Airport – the airport more commonly known as ‘LAX’ and used by countless celebrities – lays a warehouse and a federal officer sat beside an X-ray machine.

No, the machine is not scanning any passengers’ luggage, but is actually scouring mail for contraband forbidden from entering the United States.  Moving on a belt operating at least three times quicker than your typical airport security scanner, three or four packages at a time are whizzed along and made visible on a monitor to the federal officer.

The packages may include a whole variety of things such as counterfeit clothing, fresh produce, unlawful steroids, children’s toys and Cuban cigars. All have been sent there via the U.S. Postal Service, and, according to federal law, the officer has the power to open anything deemed to be of a suspicious nature.

At airports across the United States such as LAX, ports and border crossings, federal officials are efficient and quick to prevent any drugs from making their way onto the streets. Usually emanating from Central or South America, cocaine and marijuana are common problems for officials – but surprisingly not the biggest problem.

In fact, it is pharmaceutical products which are their biggest issue currently, with counterfeit drugs coming in by their thousands from Asia (usually China). Some of the most copied medications are erectile dysfunction treatments such as Viagra and Cialis, but counterfeiters will produce fakes of anything from cholesterol to cancer drugs. Often the packaging will be so expertly made that it is difficult to separate from the genuine product.

Customs operates within an incredible 38,000 square feet facility in the Los Angeles-area and is one of seven such sites nationwide that is responsible for the scanning of international mail. The site is open for 17 hours a day, seven days a week, and an estimated 1 million to 1½ million pieces of mail are processed each month.

Authorities say that roughly 5% of the mail they scan is ‘problematic’. Most of these dubious packages are containing counterfeit drugs, which are usually dangerous in three ways: either they have too much of the active ingredient, have too little of it or some will have none at all.

Matthew Bassiur, vice president of global security for Pfizer, the pharmaceutical giant behind erectile Viagra, Champix, and other popular medications, says: “What patients don’t realize is that if they go online and they purchase from a rogue website — one that’s not legitimate — then they may be playing Russian roulette with their lives. It’s really that simple. The counterfeiters are getting really good at making these look just about identical to the real products. We have to bring it back to our laboratories to test it and find out whether it’s authentic product.”

Large multinational drug corporations like Eli Lilly and Pfizer have spent millions of dollars in the fight against counterfeit drugs and finding those behind such scams that they have teams especially devoted to anti-counterfeiting measures. Joining forces with federal agents and government prosecutors, these teams help to build solid cases against those involved with the production and sale of counterfeit drugs.  Usually, the penalty is severe. In August, a South Korean man who tried to smuggle 40,000 counterfeit erectile dysfunction pills into LAX was sentenced by a federal judge in Los Angeles to 2½ years in prison. The fake pills, including copies of Viagra, Cialis and Levitra, were discovered in a golf bag and other luggage after he had returned to the United States from a trip to China.

If you are a male suffering with erectile dysfunction, safety and peace of mind is assured by obtaining genuine erectile dysfunction medication from a reputable and trusted source such as Medical Specialists Pharmacy. We are fully registered online Pharmacy with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) and the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), in addition to being a member of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA). Our team of Doctors are registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) and our Pharmacists are registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB).

Viagra and other medications for male impotence such as Cialis or Levitra are obtainable with or without a prescription. If you do not have a prescription, you can undergo a private and confidential online consultation with one of our Doctors and if suitable, they will write you a prescription. This is passed to our in-house Pharmacists, and dispensed and dispatched to you at your home, your place of work, or where ever you choose, discreetly within 24 hours.

1,677 websites shut down for selling counterfeit medication

It has emerged that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week seized a haul of over $41 million (£26.9 million) worth of counterfeit or substandard medication in their latest battle to shut down the thousands of websites plaguing the internet that offer low-priced unlawful drugs. The crackdown is part of Operation Pangea VI; a drive to stamp out illegal medicines and which involved more than 100 countries working together, according to Interpol.

In addition to the $41 million worth of illegal medicines obtained, FDA officials have also confirmed they have arrested 58 people and have shut down 1,677 websites that were offering fake or poor quality medication, or for offering drugs without required safeguards. For instance, if a website offering prescription-only medication for male impotence such as Viagra or Cialis does not provide a doctors’ consultation, this is immediately a red flag and should raise suspicion.

In an attempt to dupe the unwilling public into parting money for the dangerous fake drugs, many of the websites the FDA shut down had sophisticated-looking interfaces and were successful in masquerading as a legitimate pharmacy. One of the websites found by the FDA – Walgreens-Store.com – was clearly trying to trick people into believing this was affiliated with the popular chain. However, their website is actually Walgreens.com.

The FDA says the seized drugs included erectile dysfunction pills called ‘Levitra Super Force’ and ‘Viagra Super Force’, in addition to schizophrenia drug Clozaril (clozapine). This medication however has been known to have serious side effects and is only usually prescribed to patients who undergo regular assessments whilst on the treatment.

Speaking to CNN about the problem of counterfeit drugs, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg commented: “It impacts consumers every day. These products can have none of the active ingredient that people need for the treatment of their disease. They can have too much or too little (of the ingredient); they can have toxic ingredients, and they can prevent patients from getting the actual medications that they badly need to treat their disease.”

During some of the raids last week, FDA and customs agents used handheld scanners with ultraviolet and infrared radiation to spot the presence of falsified packaging or questionable drug ingredients. Fake drug ingredients are still confirmed following the conduction of lab tests however. Los Angeles International Airport is one such place where the scanners are utilised due to the huge amounts of imports arriving at the airport.

Also as part of the Pangea VI Operation and happening closer to home, investigators from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) last week arrested a man operating from a housing estate in Kings Langley near London.

MHRA officials exited the property with two large bags of Viagra-like erectile dysfunction drugs and his laptop for further analysis of his illegal activities.

The man’s apprehension followed the MHRA tracking his website and system for taking payments, and purchasing some drugs themselves to test. Lab analysis showed the presence of illegal ingredients inside the tablets.

This haul was just one of several across the UK last week and in total an incredible £12.2 million worth £12.2 million of illegal drugs were seized. In addition to erectile dysfunction drugs, they were fake slimming and hair loss tablets.

The MHRA’s Acting Head of Enforcement, Nimo Ahmed, said: “During one week we have seized £12.2 million worth of counterfeit and unlicensed medicines. These were being stored in unacceptable conditions and supplied through illegal internet websites without prescriptions by people who are not qualified to dispense medicines.”

He added: “When people buy medicines from an illegal website they don’t know what they’re getting, where it came from or if it’s safe to take. The dose could be too high or too low, or the ingredients could break down incorrectly in the body which makes the medicine ineffective. They could also become victims of credit card or identity fraud as well as downloading computer viruses.”

Medical Specialists Pharmacy are fully aware that there are thousands of illegal websites plaguing the internet that offer ‘discounted’ and ‘genuine’ medicines. We speak to many patients who are clearly very reluctant to obtain medicines online. With this in mind, here are some important factors to be alert of when browsing through different websites:

. No requirement of a doctors’ consultation for prescription medication.
. Long delivery times, sometimes up to several weeks. This is due to the drug being imported from a foreign country before it gets to you.
. The price of the medication is a lot cheaper than what would be expected, sometimes by as much as 70%.
. The website does not list any contact details, e.g. a telephone and fax number, email address, company address or details of its pharmacists, doctors, etc.
. A registered Pharmacy such as Medical Specialists Pharmacy will have the GPhC green cross logo together with its Pharmacy number. This number can be checked to see if it does actually exist.
. The company registration and VAT number should both be clearly stated on the website. Both of these are a legal requirement.

Pharmacist caught selling fake Viagra and Cialis

It seems a week cannot pass by without somebody being arrested or sentenced due to their illegal activity dealing with counterfeit medication. However, the guilty party this time is perhaps a surprising one.

According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s office, a pharmacist operating in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., has been arrested and accused of illegally purchasing counterfeit Viagra and Cialis from China and subsequently dispensing the fake pills at his pharmacy to unsuspecting men.

Viagra and Cialis, together with Levitra, are three hugely popular medications to treat erectile dysfunction (also known as male impotence). Unfortunately for those who are duped into buying them, counterfeits such as the ones being offloaded by this particular pharmacist, have been previously known to contain either little or too much as the medication’s active ingredient which can prove lethal if somebody has any underlying health problems.

Moreover, Counterfeit drugs are often produced in disgusting, unsanitary warehouses too and some counterfeits have previously contained anything from blue paint (perhaps to mimic Pfizer Viagra’s blue colour), to brick dust, or even rat poison!

The pharmacist in question is 36-year-old Michael Markiewicz, owner of Chicago’s ‘Belmont Pharmacy’.  Despite the fact the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation suspended Markiewicz’ pharmacist license and withdrew Belmont Pharmacy’s license in November 2012, federal prosecutors have stated it is still operating as a nutrition and herb retailer.

Preceding the revoking of his pharmacist license, Markiewicz obtained three separate shipments of fake Viagra tablets from the most notorious country in the world for counterfeit drug activity; China, via the internet. One of these particular deliveries also included counterfeit Cialis. Investigators determined that he was offering the fake drugs in his pharmacy from December 2010 through to August 2012. Shipments contained a ‘gift pen’, according to the customs declaration, with the drugs concealed in unmarked clear plastic bags under the pen.

The federal indictment announced yesterday said that Markiewicz, of Norridge, Cook County, Illinois has been charged with eight counts of violating the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, four counts of trafficking in counterfeit drugs or goods using a counterfeit mark and three counts of smuggling in a 15-count indictment returned on Wednesday by a federal grand jury.

Although it is unclear at this time exactly how severe Markiewicz’ punishment will be, in the U.S. here are some punishments associated with counterfeit medicines: Trafficking counterfeit drugs carries maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a $2 million (about £1.3 million) fine, trafficking counterfeit goods using a counterfeit mark can carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a $2 million fine, smuggling carries a maximum of 20 years and a $250,000 (about £163,000) fine and finally violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act carries a maximum of three years and a $250,000 fine.

We can assure you of peace and mind when obtaining medicines from Medical Specialists Pharmacy. Patient health and welfare has always been at the core of our business practice. Established in 1994 and becoming the UK’s first legal online clinic in 2001, we are fully registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and also a member of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA). Our team of Doctors are registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) and our Pharmacists are registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB).

However, we also understand that the internet is plagued with illegal so-called ‘pharmacies’ that offer ‘discounted’ medication. They are cheap for a reason – they are not the genuine article! To help you distinguish the illegal websites from those genuine ones belonging to fully-registered pharmacies such as Medical Specialists, here are some key points to be aware of:

. Long delivery times of up to several weeks. This is due to the drug being imported from a foreign country before it arrives to you.
. The price of the medication is a lot cheaper than what you could expect, sometimes by as much as 70%.
. The website does not offer any contact details, e.g. a telephone and fax number, company address, pharmacists, doctors, etc.
. A registered Pharmacy such as Medical Specialists Pharmacy will have the GPhC green cross logo together with its Pharmacy number. This number can be checked to see if it does actually exist.
. The company registration and VAT number should both be clearly stated on the website. Both of these are a legal requirement.
. If the website does not require patients to submit a detailed medical history or answer a doctor’s consultation, this is suspicious.

$3.6 million of counterfeit drugs seized in the U.S.

Earlier this year Medical Specialists Pharmacy gave you an insight into just some of the work that the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer have been undertaking in their bid to stamp-out the manufacturing and distribution of counterfeit drugs, or at least keep it to an absolute minimum if possible.

Pfizer are of course most notorious for the massively popular erectile dysfunction medication Viagra (sildenafil), and indeed erectile dysfunction (ED) treatments are the most counterfeited medicines in the world. Counterfeiters are becoming more adept at developing more realistic appearing medicines. However, for the patients who are unfortunately getting duped, the low-price comes with a life-threatening risk as the drugs are often processed in unsanitary conditions and usually contain toxic ingredients that can prove deadly.

There is some positive news though which shows that these illegal counterfeiters will eventually receive their comeuppance – Partnering with governments and law enforcement agencies around the globe, Pfizer’s Global Security has successfully managed to halt an incredible 160 million counterfeit tablets from reaching unsuspecting patients around the world in the last decade.

This brings us to the fantastic news this week that US enforcement agents joined forces with Pfizer, seized a haul of counterfeit medicines from a warehouse in South Carolina, U.S., in March. The fake drugs were estimated to be worth a staggering $3.6 million (£2.3 million).

Unsurprisingly, it was fake ED drugs that were uncovered during the raid and agents discovered counterfeited versions of Viagra in addition to Eli Lilly’s Cialis (tadalafil) – another popular male impotence medication that has rivalled Viagra in recent years. The agents also found Merck & Co’s Proscar (finasteride), a drug that eases the symptoms associated with an enlarged prostate.

It is believed the counterfeit drugs had been imported from India, arriving at reshipping warehouse located in Columbia, whilst other counterfeits came from a country rife in such illegal activities – China.

The huge operation that led to the South Carolina raid involved agents with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and South Carolina’s Secretary of State Office, using their expertise with work with Pfizer and Blazer Investigations staff.
In total, $4 million-worth (£2.6 million) of counterfeit goods was seized, and not only medicines. ICE has confirmed that fake versions of products from Coach, Prada, Ray Ban, Golf Pride and TaylorMade, were also found.

South Carolina Secretary of State Mark Hammond said: “Counterfeit merchandise is a lose-lose situation, harming those retailers who play by the rules and cheating consumers out of the quality products they need or deserve. Fake medicine takes this harm to another level because it can literally kill you.”

U.S. Viagra and Cialis counterfeiter gets two years in prison

Awni Shauaib Zayyad, 56, of Wilson, N.C. has been handed a two year prison sentence in relation to five federal offenses regarding the possession and sale of counterfeit erectile dysfunction (ED) Viagra and Cialis pills in the Charlotte area. When sentencing Zayyad, Chief U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr also stated that he must serve two years under court supervision after his release from prison and pay $10,000 fine and $500 special assessment fee.

Zayyad was first apprehended by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police on U.S. investigators were made aware of Zayyad’s illegal activities back in June 2010 after he sold over 500 counterfeit Viagra tablets to a Charlotte convenience store where police were already undergoing surveillance for similar dealings.

Zayyad’s residence was subsequently placed under surveillance before investigators proceeded to follow him on a four hour drive to Charlotte on Aug. 23 2010 where he was about to sell more dangerous fake pills to the same convenience store. Unfortunately for Zayyad, law enforcement agents stopped him in Mecklenburg County before he arrived. Inside the vehicle which was registered to his wife, Zayyad was found to be in possession of 500 fake Viagra pills and over 200 fake Cialis pills.

In court it was explained that Zayyad had possessed and/or distributed in excess of 2,000 counterfeit Viagra pills and nearly 400 counterfeit Cialis pills whilst he was being investigated in 2010 by the authorities. The counterfeit fake pills he possessed were actually found to contain active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) of the ED medications, though in varying and incorrect strengths and with unknown non-API additives.

It was established that the fake erectile dysfunction pills had an accumulated wholesale value of more than $40,000.  As explained many times by Medical Specialists Pharmacy, the court was also made fully aware of the dangers of congesting counterfeit pills to the health of those who take them especially when counterfeit prescription medications contain active ingredients of unknown strength, extra added substances and produced in unknown, untraceable and often unhygienic disgusting premises.

He was eventually found guilty by a jury in February 2012 of numerous offenses including: one count of conspiracy to traffic counterfeit prescription medications bearing counterfeit trademarks, two counts of trafficking counterfeit prescriptions bearing counterfeit trademarks and two counts of selling and holding for sale counterfeit prescription medications with intent to defraud and mislead.
Demonstrating the seriousness of dealing with counterfeit medications, Zayyad must now self-report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. There are no chances of parole with a federal sentence.

If you are a male suffering with erectile dysfunction, safety and peace of mind is assured by obtaining genuine erectile dysfunction medication such as Pfizer’s Viagra from a reputable and trusted source such as Medical Specialists Pharmacy. We are fully registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and also a member of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA). Our team of Doctors are registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) and our Pharmacists are registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB).

Viagra and other medications for male impotence such as Cialis or Levitra are obtainable with or without a prescription. If you do not have a prescription, you can undergo a private and confidential online consultation with one of our Doctors and if suitable, they will write you a prescription. This is passed to our in-house Pharmacists, and dispensed and dispatched to you at your home, your place of work, or where ever you choose, discreetly within 24 hours.

Pfizer’s fight against the illegal fake drug industry

We will begin by stating the obvious: counterfeit drugs are dangerous. You know that, Medical Specialists know that, and we are one of many organisations around the globe who are dedicated in bringing the fight to counterfeiters and see justice prevail. Unfortunately the dangers these people are creating for the customers who buy them does not seem to have much moral impact on them, and many illegal websites still exist today despite the recent closure of 18,000 of such websites.

One popular drug for imitations and poorly-made copies since its launch in 1998 is the Erectile Dysfunction medication Viagra. Manufactured by Pfizer – the maker of smoking cessation drug Champix and countless other medications, it has become a prime target for forgery due to its profitability.

In 2011 (just in the U.S.) it managed to hit $1.04 billion in sales after Pfizer’s incredible marketing outlay of $85 million in the same year. Counterfeiters recognise the stigma that still exists with the subject of male impotence, and some men are still embarrassed about the subject. The fake websites are easy to spot with no listed contact details and where doctor’s consultations are usually not required, but there are men who do not look for these easy-to-spot signs and just want the no-hassle purchase of the supposed inexpensive ‘Viagra’ tablets.

It was also in 2011 when an undercover agent for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security decided to order discounted ‘Viagra’ on hardtofindrx.com. Fast delivery was assured, however it then took a fortnight for 67 blue, diamond-shaped pills to arrive supplied with a return address of ‘B. Green, High Point, N.C.’. Their authenticity was tested by forwarding the package on to director of Pfizer’s global security team Brian Donnelly, whose team begin by photographing a package’s exterior. After this, they thoroughly analyse things such as markings on the blister packs to the colour of the casings and then dissect the pills to test the chemistry of the powder within.

Counterfeit Pfizer medications are sent to Pfizer several times a week by police and usually it only requires a few days to find out how genuine they are. Fake drugs can contain a whole range of disgusting and lethal ingredients such as brick dust, chalk, paint, pesticides and Pfizer Senior Scientist Amy Callanan even recalls one bogus batch of 17,000 ‘stamina booster’ capsules from a haul in South Korea actually contained the remains of human foetuses.

After scrutinising the 67 ED pills, Donnelly’s team realised that the alias name ‘B. Green’ was one they had encountered in previous investigations into counterfeit dealings and Pfizer had received fake drugs from this name on many occasions. After lab tests confirmed the pills were indeed fake, a detailed report was sent to the FBI from Pfizer and Federal agents asked postal service investigators to check for any surveillance footage they might have that shows a ‘B. Green’ caught in the act of mailing any packages.

After investigations USPS officials managed to identify who they believed to be the suspect: a white male, about six feet tall, parking a red Ford F-150 pickup truck outside a post office in the small town of Trinity, N.C.  ‘B. Green’ was just one of many individuals known as a ‘drop shipper’ – recruited by foreign distributors to receive bulk deliveries from overseas and prepare individual orders to be dispatched to the unknowing public. The advantage of this method is that the customer will receive a delivery showing a more ‘reassuring’ U.S. return address and if customs investigates a package at the border, the resulting notification letter will be sent to the drop shipper and not the customer.

The drop shipper in this instance – aka B. Green – was identified to be an individual by the name of Shane Lance, a 41-year old from North Carolina who eventually pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic and one of trafficking. In November of 2011 he received a 10 month prison sentence and a $5,100 fine owed to Pfizer.

Lance’s relatively small prison sentence and fine was perhaps surprising but was explained by Brian Donnelly: “If he were a crack dealer, for the same type of operation he’d be looking at a five-year minimum”, indicating that the legislation involved with drug counterfeiting need to be severely addressed with a much tougher punishment.

Counterfeiters in Nigeria and America receive heavy punishment

Over the course of this calendar year, there has been an endless number of cases to emerge that involve the production and distribution of counterfeit medicines, and these are only the ones that authorities have managed to successfully shut down. There are illegal operations still active all across the globe, with criminals always trying to conjure up new methods of tricking the public into purchasing these dangerous medicines. However, their activities cannot and will not last forever, with Medical Specialists Pharmacy and many other organisations around the world determined to bring them to justice.

Therefore it brings us with great delight to report of two such instances to occur in the last few weeks of criminals finding their comeuppance. The first happened just 11 days ago in Nigeria and surprisingly did not involve erectile dysfunction medications, which seems to be a common type of counterfeited drug. Instead it was antimalarials such as Malarone and Paludrine that had found themselves being the source of imitation.

After receiving knowledge about the existence of the fake drugs, officers from The Nigerian National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) swooped onto a market within the south-eastern city of Enugu. After the raid, authorities had amassed a haul of $15,000 worth of fake pharmaceuticals, which could have proved fatal if sold to the unsuspecting public of Nigeria. Fake drugs are often manufactured in dirty, unhygienic warehouses and sometimes can contain little or no of the genuine active ingredient, or remarkably harmful industrial compounds.

Udekpo Ekpo, acting head, south-east zone at NAFDAC, spoke of the capture of the drugs and said, “This exercise was actually necessitated by reports that there are some fake brands of antimalarial drugs in the market. Some of them are in the market without NAFDAC registration number.”

Just one week after this bust in Nigeria, 40 year old Gregory Bochter found out the hard way that dealing with counterfeit drugs does not pay. Bochter, of Volusia County, Florida, initially submitted a guilty plea back in May to the trafficking of the two popular counterfeit erectile dysfunction medications, Viagra and Cialis.

He had obtained the fake pills from China, one of the world’s biggest exporters of counterfeit drugs. Homeland Security investigators had managed to intervene and apprehend one of his shipments and discovered in excess of 1,300 prescription pills. The pills only comprised of just 30% of their active ingredient, thus meaning they would probably be ineffective to any unsuspecting men who bought them.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials claim that even after they had seized Bochter’s delivery of fake pills, he then brazenly continued to be involved in more illegal trafficking for another two months. Unfortunately for him, he has now been sentenced to eight months behind bars and is being forced to cough up a hefty $150,000 in restitution fees.  If this wasn’t bad enough for, Bochter faces three years of supervised release upon his return to society in 2020.

Counterfeit Viagra found during routine checks of Chinese adult stores

A random spot-check  of local adult shops in China by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspectors, has uncovered many pills that were being marketed and sold as genuine Viagra tablets. Working together with the public security bureau of Nanjing’s Qixia district, the FDA inspectors decided to carry out a late-night sudden check of stores that were selling sexual health products. The inspections took place on May 23 and June 6 and 7.

It was found that there are almost 30 adult stores in the Oixia district and that many of these are unlicensed. In some of the places where the fake Viagra was found, investigators found some pills that looked so authentic that even they could not distinguish them from the real thing.

The pills were only confirmed as counterfeits on July 4, after they had been sent over for further analysis to the drug’s manufacturer Pfizer. Deputy Director of the administration, Huang Da, noted that investigators had discovered Viagra-like products with English-only text on the packaging and that Pfizer has never sold any such Viagra within China. He commented, “Therefore, Viagra with English-only packaging in Nanjing must be fake.”

An undercover reporter for a Chinese newspaper actually visited a few of the adult stores and saw that ‘Viagra’ was being sold at hugely varying prices, which is immediately suspicious. It is thought that the stores can purchase tablets from ‘middlemen’ for as little as one Yuan (US$0.16) per tablet, and then sell them on to the public for around 100 Yuan (US$16).

One owner of an adult store told the undercover reporter, “the higher the price, the better the effect”. The same owner also gave shoddy guarantees of the safety of pills saying that he had been selling them for many years and had yet to receive a customer complaint.

Of course, the owner would obviously say this in an attempt to receive custom. It is highly unlikely that if somebody did complain (which is likely), he would easily surrender this information and risk a potential sale in a town that is already flooded with other fakes and where it is incredibly easy to buy Viagra that is ‘the real thing’, or so one might think.

Surely guarantees of safety and peace of mind come from obtaining genuine erectile dysfunction medication such as Pfizer’s Viagra from somewhere reputable such as Medical Specialists. We are fully registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and also a member of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA). Our team of Doctors are registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) and our Pharmacists are registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB).

Viagra and other medications for male impotence such as Cialis or Levitra are obtainable with or without a prescription. If you do not have a prescription, you can undergo a private and confidential online consultation with one of our Doctors and if suitable, they will write you a prescription. This is passed to our in-house Pharmacists, and dispensed and dispatched to you at your home, your place of work, or where ever you choose, discreetly within 24 hours.

Police seize almost $2 million worth of fake Viagra and cigarettes in the U.S.

With governments all across the globe looking to severely punish counterfeiters in both monetary terms and prison time, we at Medical Specialists Pharmacy cannot understand why some people still risk it. However it seems the prospect of a bankrupt-inducing fine or decades spent locked up in prison is remarkably not putting everybody off.

It has emerged that authorities in the U.S.  last week seized over  $1.8 million worth of counterfeit cigarettes and Viagra pills following the execution of search warrants in the cities of Rosemead, Montebello, South El Monte and East Los Angeles.

The names of the perpetrators have yet to be released by police but it is known that a 42-year-old female  and 37-year-old male were arrested at the 9400 block of Ralph Street in Rosemead. Investigators discovered roughly $110,000 in cash at this address.

The arrests were made after police initially swooped onto storage units in East Los Angeles and South El Monte, finding 30,000 cartons of counterfeit cigarettes and more than 4,000 counterfeit Viagra pills, all believed to have a cumulative value of around $100,000.

Photographs have been made available by the sheriff’s department that clearly show small blue pills wrapped in paper that are supposed to resemble Viagra. It is still unclear what ingredients comprise these tablets comprise of but it is very unlikely to be sildenafil citrate (the active ingredient in genuine Pfizer-made Viagra tablets).  It could be anything from brick dust, to blue paint, or even boric acid.

Sheriff Det. Kevin Olive, who was involved in the case, said the investigation had been in motion for a year before and is still on-going. The two suspects now may face federal charges if investigators decide that the goods were imported into American with ‘intent to defraud the government’.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said in a statement, “Counterfeiting and piracy impacts public safety by funding organized crime, street gangs, and even terrorism through the sales of these counterfeit products. Criminals engaged in counterfeiting products cost society billions of dollars in lost government revenues, foreign investments and local business profits.”

At Medical Specialists Pharmacy, we only supply genuine branded medication to our patients, prescribed by our professional team of GMC registered doctors, and dispensed by our Royal Pharmaceutical Society registered pharmacist.  Genuine Pfizer-manufactured Viagra is obtainable with or without a prescription, or we have other treatments for erectile dysfunction such as Cialis or Levitra.

UK trio appear in court after money laundering profits from fake impotence drugs

On Sunday three men appeared at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court and were sentenced to a combined 89 weeks in prison in relation to money laundering in excess of £256,000. This followed a criminal investigation conducted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The guilty trio were Michael Bowyer, 63, who was handed a 45 week sentence, David Fairhurst, 61, received 26 weeks and 50 year old George Lowe received 18 weeks which has been suspended for 18 months. All three were arrested in connection to the laundered monetary gains from a Cyprus-based illegal online pharmacy. The illegal activities were orchestrated by a UK criminal who had numerous illegal online pharmacy businesses selling counterfeit medication from outside of the UK.

The MHRA accessed illegal websites which offered counterfeit Viagra and purchased some of the fake pills. They then cooperated with expert financial investigators to begin unearthing the audit trail. After thorough investigations, it was found that the illegal businesses turnover stood at over £1 million over a three year period. The three men took proceeds from the websites’ UK bank account, transferring this to an account in Cyprus using various means.

MHRA Acting Head of Enforcement, Nimo Ahmed, condemned the activities of the convicted counterfeiters and said, “This case highlights the criminality of the people who continue to put profit before patient’s health. These illegal pharmacy websites selling medicines bought from illegitimate sources pose a real threat to people’s health because they simply don’t know what they are getting. We strongly advise people to protect themselves by purchasing their medicines only from sources such as legitimate pharmacies and to take prescription-only-medicines following an appropriate consultation with their GP.”

Ahmed’s comments echo similar warnings Medical Specialists Pharmacy have issued countless times previously such as back in February. Patients’ welfare is always at the core of our thinking, and we are strongly fighting against the high volume of illegally operated pharmacies that are appearing on the internet. These websites do not care for the welfare of the unfortunate men who purchase the dangerous and cheap pills, and more often than not you simply do not know what you are getting. We only have genuine branded medication and do not supply any illegal products such as ‘Kamagra’ and it is illegal to buy or sell this within the UK.

Viagra sniffer dogs Search For Counterfeits

Two specially trained sniffer dogs are being used by Pfizer, the company that developed and markets the male impotence treatment Viagra, to sniff out counterfeit Viagra tablets for the customs authorities in Finland, according to Pfizer It is the first time sniffer dogs have ever been used in Finland to find fake medications, which can be detected even if they’re well-packed.

The dogs – Springer, a mixed breed of spaniel and Border collie, and Willem, a pointer, were trained in the Holland. They have already been dubbed “Viagra dogs.”

According to Pfizer, the dogs cannot detect the two other brands of male impotence medication Cialis and Levitra, as these are made of a different, though similar molecule and would have a different smell to the dogs than Viagra, whose generic name is sildenafil citrate.

Counterfeit erectile dysfunction medication may be not only harmless sugar pills but instead could contain dangerous active ingredients that could harm and even kill those who take them.

Thousands of fake Viagra and Cialis pills found in US bust

It’s apparently one of the biggest counterfeit busts in recent history. 

Authorities arrested 54-year-old Awni Zayyad. The Wilson, North Carolina resident is accused of trafficking over a thousand fake Viagra and Cialis pills.

“My first reaction when I hear that is, ‘If it’s fake, what is it?’ You have absolutely no clue what could be in these drugs,” says Charles Odell, with the Dilworth Centre for Chemical Dependency.

Odell says he often sees overdoes from fake drugs.

“When you're taking a drug off the street that is a bootleg or fake drug, then you're completely on your own without any assistance from a physician,” he adds.

Agent Delbert Richburg heads up Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Charlotte.

Richburg says the Charlotte area has seen its fair share of counterfeit items from health products, to consumer goods.

“These are some counterfeit Apple products, iPods, and again, you look at this iPod and it doesn't have the Apple, doesn't have the Apple mark on it,” Richburg explains.

Not surprisingly, the Internet has given rise to all sorts of counterfeit merchandise. ICE shut down over 82 websites on Cyber Monday.

“Unfortunately, you might spend $50 or $100 on a typical item that lasts for 30 days before it starts, the stitches come out and it starts to deteriorate,” he says.

Nationally, ICE confiscated over $200 Million in counterfeit items in 2009. $30 Million from health products alone. 

“At the very least it could cause serious health affects, worst it could possibly take your life,” Richburg says.

Officials say Thursday’s bust proves counterfeit items are not only low quality, but can also be risky to your health.

Fake Viagra seized in Dagenham

 

A HUGE haul of counterfeit goods containing fake Viagra, Rolex watches and £18,040 in cash has been seized in Dagenham.

Barking and Dagenham Council Trading Standards and HM Revenue & Customs uncovered the horde inside a container on 16 and 17 November. The haul, which has an estimated street value of more than £800,000 also included fake designer hand bags, sunglasses, GHD hair straighteners, jewellery and rolling tobacco.

The container was part of a larger consignment which arrived in the UK the previous week destined for the Christmas shopping market. It is thought the goods were imported from China and were being stored in Dagenham before being distributed around the country.

The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made. All the goods and the cash have been registered with the court for confiscation.

Anyone involved in the trade of fake goods could face up to ten years in prison.

Cllr Jeanne Alexander, Cabinet Member for Crime, Justice and Communities, said: “This discovery is a major success in our battle against the counterfeiters. I’m grateful for the assistance we received from HMRC during this operation.

“Counterfeiters undercut legitimate traders who are trying to earn an honest living by selling genuine items. Fake goods might seem good at first sight, but the reality is they are usually poorly made and could even be dangerous. This is especially true for pharmaceutical like the tablets that were seized here.

“Not only could you end up with a dodgy product if you buy a counterfeit item, you could also be helping to fund organised crime. If a bargain seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

CHINESE COUNTERFEIT DRUG DISTRIBUTOR SENTENCED TO PRISON

A man from China was sentenced on Monday to 12 months and a day in prison for conspiring to distribute counterfeit pharmaceuticals, and trafficking in pharmaceuticals with false labeling and counterfeit trademarks. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno, Southern District of Texas. The investigation was conducted by agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations.

Kum Leung Chow, aka Lawrence Chow, 59, pleaded guilty to the federal charges on June 28 and sentenced on Monday to 12 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt. Chow was arrested on Jan. 27 and has been in federal custody since that date and will remain in custody to serve out his sentence. Chow is subject to deportation after he completes his sentence.
The ICE HSI investigation began in January 2009 and revealed that Chow used a Hong Kong-based company named Kingdom International Enterprises LTD to obtain and distribute counterfeit Viagra and Cialis pharmaceutical drugs in the United States. Viagra and Cialis are prescription drugs that are FDA-approved and used to treat erectile dysfunction. They are registered trademarks on the principal register in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Viagra is manufactured and distributed exclusively by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, while Cialis is manufactured and distributed exclusively by Eli Lilly.
Chow offered boxes containing four Viagra tablets and boxes containing eight Cialis tablets for $10 a box on two Internet websites. The retail cost for each Viagra tablet is about $20, while each Cialis tablet is about $15.20. Working in an undercover capacity, ICE agents purchased about 1,120 Viagra tablets and about 360 Cialis tablets from Chow via the Internet on March 25, 2009, and April 28, 2009. Shipping documents accompanying the pharmaceuticals indicated they were exported from mainland China and Hong Kong.
The pharmaceuticals were later analyzed by the trademark holders and the FDA Forensic Chemistry Center which indicated the pharmaceuticals were counterfeit. These counterfeit pharmaceutical products may have harmed the public if law enforcement were not involved in monitoring the Internet.
Chow has been in federal custody since he was arrested Jan. 27; he will remain in custody to serve out his sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel Louis, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted the case.

Source: http://www.thecypresstimes.com/article/News/National_News/CHINESE_COUNTERFEIT_DRUG_DISTRIBUTOR_SENTENCED_TO_PRISON/36351

Armenian crime boss arrested in U.S.

A large network of Armenian criminals and their associates used phantom health care clinics and other means, cheating Medicare out of $163 million, various US news papers have reported.

The operation was under the protection of an Armenian criminal boss Armen Kazaryan, who lived in Los Angeles.

Over 73 people were charged by federal prosecutors in New York. Most of the defendants were captured during raids in New York City and Los Angeles, as well as in New Mexico, Georgia and Ohio.

Kazaryan and two alleged ringleaders-Davit Mirzoyan, 34 and Robert Terdjanyan, 35 were named in an indictment charging bank fraud, money laundering and racketeering conspiracy. They are charged with being involved in stolen credit cards, untaxed cigarettes and counterfeit Viagra.