Counterfeit Prescription Medications:  Should the Feds Step In?

According to recent news, counterfeit prescription medication is big business all over the world, with superpowers like China and India playing a major part in this multi-billion dollar industry.  Counterfeit prescription medications pose the greatest threat to poor uneducated populations in emerging countries says a Report of the Institute of Medicine. Over 100 countries are plagued by the industry. The weak regulation in these nations enables the counterfeit drug market to flourish. Interpol apparently busted over 4100 fake drug sellers in a global crack down. 

 

And, now, fake drugs have invaded US drug supply chains. In response, state legislatures are trying to handle it by controlling supply chains within their own borders.  The federal government isn’t satisfied, however. It is worried about the growing imports of counterfeit drugs from overseas suppliers, as well the gap in oversight of drug wholesalers on US soil.  This has led to proposed federal legislation: Safeguarding America's Pharmaceuticals Act of 2013, which appoints the federal as the chief overseer, and strips the States of their prior powers to exclusively handle the situation. The federal government proposes tightening oversight and reporting of prescription medicine supply chains. Maybe we should first see some statistics before we knock the states out of the ring.