© 2002 by Oxford University Press
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 94, No. 19, 1425,
October 2, 2002
© 2002 Oxford University Press
NEWS |
Counterfeit Cases Set Stage for Today’s Laws, Safety Mechanisms
Although sometimes cases of phony or adulterated medications remain undetected, high-profile tampering cases have involved everything from spiking over-the-counter medications with poison to diluting pharmaceuticals.
Since his arrest in August 2001 for tampering with, misbranding, and adulterating the chemotherapy drugs Gemzar and Taxol, Kansas City, Mo., pharmacist Robert Courtney, 49, has admitted diluting more than 60 different intravenous or injectable drugs over the last decade. In a scheme that may have netted him millions, the scope of Courtney’s actions is thought to have affected 400 physicians, 4,200 patients, and 98,000 prescriptions.
Courtney, who now awaits sentencing, faces fines of up to $15 million and 30 years in federal prison as part of a plea agreement. Before his arrest, the pharmacist made about $300,000 per month in chemotherapy sales alone; his net worth has been estimated at about $10 million. The first of several hundred civil lawsuits filed against Courtney and two drug manufacturers is slated to begin October 7. At the time of Courtney’s arrest on the federal charges, Missouri, like many states, had no criminal law governing drug tampering.
The Courtney case is only the most recent and extensive case of tampering in the limelight. Two decades ago this month, national attention was captured by the deaths of seven people who died after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol that had been laced with cyanide and placed on Chicago-area pharmacy shelves.
The scare led Tylenol manufacturer Johnson & Johnson to initiate one of the largest drug recalls in the nation’s history at a cost of more than $100 million and initially caused the company’s share of the nonprescription pain reliever market to slip from 35% to 8%.
In addition, the company stopped producing capsules and replaced them with caplets as well as unveiling new tamper-resistant packaging, which has become the industry norm. For its part, Congress passed legislation making drug tampering a federal offense (a law that would later be used to charge Courtney). Even though one man was convicted of trying to extort $1 million from Tylenol’s manufacturer during the incident, these poisoning cases remain unsolved.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||