Safe Medicines: True Crime and Medicine Safety

This week's episode of your Counterfeit New podcast, Imitation Nation, is now live! This week we feature news stories on somebody who was writing fake checks on behalf of a whole town, the perils of counterfeit World Cup merchandise, and a segment on a $600 million dollar judgment for the family who lost a loved one to faulty counterfeit airbags.

This week's episode of your Counterfeit New podcast, Imitation Nation, is now live! This week we feature news stories on somebody who was writing fake checks on behalf of a whole town, the perils of counterfeit World Cup merchandise, and a segment on a $600 million dollar judgment for the family who lost a loved one to faulty counterfeit airbags.

In this interview, Mark Karhoff and Shabbir Imber Safdar talk about the groundbreaking warning letter the FDA sent to a small medspa dispenser citing violations of the DSCSA.   They also cover the coming changeover from NDC codes from 10 to 12 digits. Mark says it's a Y2K-level event with nearly infinite downside if not handled correctly.

Lt. Justin Wright has decades of experience in law enforcement and is currently at the Ada County, Idaho Sheriff's Office. In this episode, Shabbir and Justin talk about an unusual case involving an illegal online pharmacy mailing fake controlled substances that took a life in the county, and how that was connected to a nationwide investigation. They also touch on the evolution of the illicit drug...

In this episode of the PSM Podcast, host Shabbir Imber Safdar sits down with Jeffrey Bratberg, Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Research at the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy, to explore a groundbreaking model for expanding access to treatment for opioid use disorder. Dr. Bratberg shares how his early work in infectious disease and harm reduction, particularly e...

What happens when the medication you depend on to prevent a medical emergency suddenly doesn’t arrive? In this episode of the PSM Podcast, host Shabbir Imber Safdar sits down with Donovan Guerrero, a 25-year-old engineering student living with Hemophilia A. Born with less than 1% of the clotting factor his body needs, Donovan relies on consistent preventive treatment to avoid dangerous internal bl...

On this episode of True Crime and Medicine Safety, we talk to Eric Feinberg of the Coalition for a Safer Web. Their report on what it was like to get scammed while trying to buy weight loss injectables on TikTok is an important lesson for all Americans to be careful online. Read the report: https://23693881.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/23693881/reports/DCA_OZEMPIC_SCAMS_TIKTOK.pdf

In this episode of the PSM Podcast, we sit down with Lisa Hicks, who has spent the past decade advocating for awareness and prevention following the tragic death of her son, Joe, from a fake pill laced with fentanyl.   Lisa reflects on how the fentanyl crisis has evolved over the last ten years, from a lack of awareness and understanding to widespread recognition of its devastating impact. She sha...

In this episode, PSM's Executive Director, Shabbir Imber Safdar, CFE, sits down with Sheriff Dorsey, who brings more than 25 years of law enforcement experience, for a candid conversation about one of the greatest public safety threats facing America today: the rise of fentanyl and the explosion of illegal pill presses. The Sheriff also includes stories from undercover members of his team, who des...

In this episode of the PSM podcast, Executive Director Shabbir Safdar sits down with Luis Diestre, Founder and CEO of Translucent Data Lab and Professor at IE Business School. The conversation delves into the methodologies and technologies developed to combat illegal online pharmacies (IOPs) through data science and AI. It discusses the impact of IOPs on public health and the economy, the challeng...

In the latest episode of the PSM podcast, host Shabbir Imber Safdar, Executive Director of the Partnership for Safe Medicines, is joined by Dr. William H. Grover, Associate Professor of Bioengineering at UC Riverside. They talk about the motivations and innovations of The Grover Lab , and how their low-cost innovations are helping to combat the global crisis of falsified and substandard medicines....

In this episode, PSM Executive Director Shabbir Imber Safdar sits down with Dr. Kenneth McCall to explore his newly published study on the adverse events linked to compounded GLP-1 receptor agonists. Dr. McCall’s study, which analyzed data from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database, raises important safety questions about compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide. Tune in to learn a...

In this episode, hosts  Krystalyn Weaver and Shabbir Imber Safdar dive into the rapidly evolving world of Prescription Drug Affordability Boards and upper payment limits—two key policy tools designed to tackle rising drug costs at the state level. With special guests Emily Zadvorny, PharmD, BCPS, Executive Director of the Colorado Pharmacists Society, and Bridget Dandaraw-Seritt, patient advocate...

Recently, a unit of fake Ozempic was found in an Arkansas pharmacy and identified as fake using a new tool from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, Pulse. What does a patient, who received a counterfeit twenty five years ago, think about this magical decoder ring that can detect counterfeits in an instant today? How does Pulse by NABP, that detected the fake Ozempic in the Arkansas pha...

In December the WHO warned about counterfeit versions of the cancer drug Imfinzi in Armenia, Lebanon and Turkey. The drugs have no active ingredient. If you’re here in the US you may be thinking, “What do sketchy drugs there have to do with me??” Well, medicine online can come from anywhere in the world. Watch and keep with with news like this at safemedicines.org.

Our latest PSM podcast digs into the FTC's Second Interim Staff Report on Prescription Drug Middlemen and how independent pharmacists are getting squeezed by rapacious PBMs.  with  Garth Reynolds, BSPharm, RPh, MBA, FAPhA, Executive Director of the Illinois Pharmacists Association. Shabbir Safdar, Executive Director, Partnership for Safe Medicines

In December federal prosecutors announced the arrest of Xiaofei “Sophie” Chen at a trade show held in Vegas last October. Chen is a Chinese national accused of illegally supplying U.S. customers with pill presses and counterfeit pill molds. Find out more about this case!

A California resident took in over a million dollars selling workout supplements called SARMs and prescription drugs--including Viagra and semaglutide--under the label Warrior Labz. Listen to learn more.

The American Diabetes Association has released a patient safety alert that warns about counterfeits, illegally-compounded, and other compounded GLP-1 injections made with non-FDA approved ingredients.  Learn more at safemedicines.org

Have you read the FTC's complaint about pharmacy benefit managers and insulin prices? Learn how PBM business practices hurt pharmacies and American patients.

CBP published a summary of what they and agents with the FDA found in a week looking for fake medicines at the Port of Cincinnati. Let’s take a look at what they found.

Prescription Drug Affordability Boards (PDABs) has started popping up in states looking to establish upper payment limits on prescription drug prices. But will they also create barriers to medication access? Listen to PSM's Executive Director Shabbir Safdar and CEO of the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations, Krystalyn Weaver's conversation with Brian Mayo, Executive Director of the Or...

Listen to Mark Karhoff of Ten Count Consulting and PSM's Executive Director Shabbir Safdar explain the reasoning behind the FDA announced exemptions for connected trading partners and small dispensers as the agency approaches the full implementation of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act. 

Mexican border pharmacies have a long tradition of selling U.S. tourist fake medicine, and a recent Reuters piece shows that they're selling counterfeit Ozempic, too.

When/how did counterfeit Botox turn into a full-blown public health emergency in the United States?