Law enforcement must take apart fake drug networks; Lilly

By Nick Taylor

- Last updated on GMT

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Eli Lilly has called for law enforcement to find and dismantle the supply sources and distribution networks underpinning fake online pharmacies.

Fake online pharmacies offer counterfeiters an unparalleled means of selling falsified medicines. Most efforts focus on taking down websites but Eli Lilly wants law enforcement to go back through the illegal supply chain to find the source and stop it from distributing fake drugs.

More effort is needed through investigations to track websites back to the source. Dismantling these counterfeit pharmaceutical networks must become a higher priority for law enforcement globally​”, said Michael Russo, director of global security, product and asset protection at Eli Lilly.

Stopping the supply of counterfeit medicines at the source is one element of Lilly’s preferred plan for tackling fake online pharmacies. Action by companies that indirectly support fake pharmacies is another part of the strategy.

[Stopping fake pharmacies] will undoubtedly require more active support from the private sector companies that are indirectly facilitating the registration and advertisement of new sites every dayas well as processing and shipping the purchased fake and illegal medicines​”, said Russo.

Stopping services

Voluntary initiatives are already underway, with Google and Go Daddy setting up the non-profit Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies (CSIP). The centre brings together search engines, credit card companies, shippers and more to stop businesses providing services to fake pharmacies.

To prosper CSIP needs governmental support, said Russo. Specifically, the House should adopt a bill to give “legal immunity to CSIP and other Internet-related companies who stop providing services to websites that endanger the public health​”.

Russo was speaking at a hearing of the US House Committee on Homeland Security. In his testimony Russo outlined current anti-counterfeiting strategies and other measures Lilly wants to see implemented.

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