Health and Safety Threatened
Consumer Safety
 Can you tell which is counterfeit? (Real Monopril pill is on the right). Courtesy: PhRMAAccording to the World Health Organization, counterfeit drugs account for 10% of all pharmaceuticals.
In May 2003, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recalled 20 million doses of fake Lipitor, a drug used by millions to control high cholesterol.
FDA officials admitted that they catch only a fraction of the drug counterfeiters. John M. Taylor III, FDA associate commissioner for regulatory affairs, told a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on November 20, 2003, that it is virtually impossible to ensure the origin of any drug purchased via the Web. Read the testimony.
 Counterfeit alternator. Courtesy of MEMA. Even more alarming, consider who benefits from the sale of counterfeit and pirated products-organized crime, and sometimes even terrorists. Ronald K. Noble, the secretary general of Interpol, in testimony to the House Committee on International Relations, gave specific examples of links between intellectual property crimes and terrorist organizations. Among the groups he named were Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Chechen separatists, North African radical fundamentalists, and known terrorist groups in Kosovo and Northern Ireland. Read the testimony.
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was largely financed through the sale of counterfeit goods, such as fake Nike T-shirts sold from a store on Broadway.
According to Interpol, an Al-Qaeda training manual recommends the sale of fake goods as a financing source.
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