QMedRx Disturbed by "Fake Pharmacy" Activity
"Fake pharmacies" are profiting as critical prescription drugs become more difficult to find. QMedRx encourages patients to know where their medications are coming from.
NEW YORK, NY, August 16, 2012
NBC News reports that "fake pharmacies" are capitalizing from U.S. prescription drug shortages. Federal lawmakers have begun investigating companies that buy and resell scarce medicines to patients. Jay Cuetara, a cancer patient in the San Francisco area said he was shocked to find some of his prescriptions were out of stock. His infusion nurse told Cuetara he wouldn't be able to continue chemotherapy treatment until the medications became available. QMedRx says that Cuetara's experience isn't uncommon.According to the University of Utah Drug Information Service, drug shortages reached a record high in 2011. Drugs unavailable include treatments needed for cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Congressional investigators began to research companies buying and reselling scarce medications - LTC Pharmacy is one such company.
Licensed in Durham, N.C., this pharmacy bought supplies of fluorouracil, one of the scarce drugs Cuetara was unable to obtain. North Carolina regulators inspected LTC Pharmacy and found what appeared to be a shipping and receiving office with no records, no dispensing equipment, no patients and no pharmacist on duty.
Investigators obtained LTC's prescription drug sales records, invoices and purchase orders. The obtained records showed the company bought drugs that were in limited supply and resold them to a wholesale drug company, International Pharmaceuticals. International Pharmaceuticals had the same address as LTC Pharmacy and was registered under the same person's name.
International Pharmaceuticals sold the scarce drugs to other companies at inflated prices. Bob Braswell, one of the inspectors on the case said that about 26 percent of the drugs the company bought were in limited supply. As QMedRx points out in a press statement, worsening drug shortages will make problems with "gray-market" pharmacies more prominent.
In a press statement, QMedRx commented that, "With the influx of drug shortages, it will be even more crucial for patients to verify that their medications are coming from an authentic pharmacy." As this statement shows, QMedRx expects companies like LTC Pharmacy to become more common. As fake pharmacies buy up limited supplies of medications to resell for profit, drug scarcity will become worse.
ABOUT:
Since 1990, QMedRx, Inc. has provided specialty pharmacy and healthcare services to patients unable to leave their homes. Home Care Solutions, the ACHC-accredited pharmacy of QMedRx, is an in-network pharmacy for most insurance providers and is licensed in 44 states. QMedRx ensures proper and timely filing and delivery of prescriptions and creates positive, lasting relationships with physicians and their patients.
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