Report urges tough laws against wholesale drug fraud

MIAMI -- The Legislature should bolster laws and penalties regulating the wholesale drug market to help stem a rise in the trade of counterfeit medicines, a state oversight agency recommends.

Dozens of prescription drug wholesalers in Florida are under investigation on suspicion of substituting weaker or bogus drugs for genuine medications. Authorities say the wholesalers put lives at risk because the tainted drugs eventually reach hospitals and pharmacies.

Wholesalers who engage in drug counterfeiting take advantage of current laws allowing them to resell drugs on the wholesale market numerous times before the medications reach the retail level.

Laws making it possible to trace drugs back to their manufacturer, combined with stiffer wholesale drug market regulations and harsher fines and criminal penalties, are needed to end the illegal prescription drug trade, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability recommended in its report.

State Sen. Dave Aronberg, a member of the Health, Aging and Long-Term Care Committee, said Wednesday he wasn't sure when or if the committee would discuss the report's recommendations. The committee has been preoccupied with debate over nursing home and medical malpractice insurance, he said.

"This issue has not received the attention that it probably deserves," said Aronberg, D-West Palm Beach.

Aronberg said any legislation meant to fight the spread of bogus drugs should not also raise the cost of medications for seniors.

The Pharmaceutical Distributors Association, which represents wholesalers, supports tougher licensing but is against legislation that would increase paperwork.

Drugs to boost the immune systems of cancer and HIV patients have become a favorite of counterfeiters, the report said. In one 2001 case, investigators found more than 100,000 bottles of Epogen had been relabeled to fool people into thinking they contained the drug Procrit, which has 20 times the strength. The drugs, complete with forged documentation, passed through wholesalers in four states.

Between 50 and 55 of the state's 1,458 wholesalers are under suspicion of selling fake drugs or buying drugs from patients, nursing homes and others for resale, according to the Bureau of Statewide Pharmaceutical Services. Most wholesalers in the state are in South Florida.

Last week, a state grand jury issued a report that called for stricter licensing, more inspections and tighter oversight on wholesalers. It also said tougher penalties for violators -- including the death penalty if a consumer dies as a result of ingesting an adulterated drug -- are necessary.

The grand jury said indictments would be issued soon, but none have yet been handed up, said Joanne Carrin, spokeswoman for Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist.

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