Counterfeit Avastin Cancer Drugs Found in the US

Most of the doctors who bought it were in California too, where Avastin comes from.  There’s no active ingredient in the counterfeit drugs to harm you but no drug Most of the doctors who bought it were in California too, where Avastin comes from.  There’s no active ingredient in the counterfeit drugs to harm you but no drug to help cancer patients either. Pharmacists, consumers, hospitals and doctors would like a way to scan and check an in this case from what I am reading the packaging was a bit sketchy here so it would lead one to wan to check.

We have some patent here that create tamper proof labels too…..so in addition to recalls the bar codes would identify authenticity too. 

Microsoft Receives Patent-Techniques to Create Counterfeit and Tamper Resistant Labels Using Fiber Optic Strands-Bar Codes Getting Closer for Drug/Device Recalls?

Now if you want a refill where you are going to put some money out they have some bar codes for that but nothing for safety.  Remember Walgreens too is the same company that makes almost $800 million selling data though so that must pay for it and a lot more. 

We just had recalls of birth control pills too and the beauty of the bar codes is that they can be changed to give product knowledge and authenticity and if a recall is issued they get changed.  Consumers are really getting a bad deal when it comes to identifying drugs today. 

Pfizer Recalls 1 Million Birth Control Packs–Where’s the Bar Codes to Help Consumers Identify? Yet One More Big Example of the “Shitty Deal” American Consumers Get

You can find stolen drugs this way too and in the case of a fake if it doesn’t scan, then don’t use it as encrypted gateways can be used as well.  BD 

Microsoft Tag Bar Codes–Who’s Been Scanning the Medical Quack–The Bing Heat Map Tells All And Could Help Find Stolen or Expired Drugs and Devices With This Methodology

Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) — Roche Holding AG is working with U.S. authorities to determine the source of counterfeit Avastin, purchased by at least 19 medical practices in the U.S.

Roche and the Food and Drug Administration are seeking to prevent the fake cancer drug, which doesn’t include the active ingredient bevacizumab, from being distributed further, the company’s Genentech unit said in an e-mail late yesterday. The FDA notified the company about the issue in December, said Edward Lang, a spokesman for Roche’s South San Francisco, California-based unit.

“We’re working with the FDA, as well as with law enforcement authorities to aid in their investigation,” Lang said today in an interview. “We’ve analyzed some of the vials, we found no therapeutic protein there. So there’s no Avastin, there’s no generic form of Avastin.”

The labels on the counterfeit medicines aren’t all in English, and list Basel, Switzerland-based Roche as the manufacturer, unlike the real version of Avastin sold in the U.S. which lists Genentech, the FDA said in a statement.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-15/roche-says-fda-is-probing-counterfeit-cancer-drug-avastin.html