Fake pills......60 minutes

[Hosstheboss]

This stuff about the fake prescription pills stuff on 60 minutes tonight is scary. They showed a Viagra tablet and it looked spot on. They had to do what looked like gas chromatography to establish a difference. The fake ended up being basically dry wall. Scary stuff.

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[jessicaholland1]

This stuff about the fake prescription pills stuff on 60 minutes tonight is scary. They showed a Viagra tablet and it looked spot on. They had to do what looked like gas chromatography to establish a difference. The fake ended up being basically dry wall. Scary stuff.

I saw that too. So crazy how these counterfeit pills got into hopsitals. The story about the lady with cancer was really sad. Some people will do anything for money...

 

[jlpolla]

I saw it too! Was just channel surfing and saw pills so I had to stop and watch...It truly shows the dark side of the pharmaceutical world...Hopefully our gov't will start regulating the movement of 'legal' prescription drugs. If anyone wants to watch it here is a link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13137839/

 

[Knickerbocker]

This stuff about the fake prescription pills stuff on 60 minutes tonight is scary. They showed a Viagra tablet and it looked spot on. They had to do what looked like gas chromatography to establish a difference. The fake ended up being basically dry wall. Scary stuff.

If it is drywall (gypsum) in the fakes, then I don't think you could use gas chromatography, as gypsum isn't volatile.

Viagra, as sold, is a salt of an organic base. Adding acid to it should do nothing. The fake, however, will dissolve in acid. There are lots of little quick tests like this to simply establish that it is a fake. You could add base to the viagra and watch it become soluble in organic solvents. The gypsum won't.

 

[RX CARE]

I do not even want to comprehend the extent to which those big time pfizer drugs will be counterfeited once they go generic. If they can be easily counterfeited as brand medications with packaging, how much easier will it get if say....sildenafil, with its high demand, was manufactured by 25 different generic companies, with 25 different shapes, size and color? We will have a big problem on our hands..

 

[cassiegal21]

I saw that and was shocked by the fact that the lady who sold the fakes only got 18 months what a slap on the wrist.

 

[Hosstheboss]

If it is drywall (gypsum) in the fakes, then I don't think you could use gas chromatography, as gypsum isn't volatile.

Viagra, as sold, is a salt of an organic base. Adding acid to it should do nothing. The fake, however, will dissolve in acid. There are lots of little quick tests like this to simply establish that it is a fake. You could add base to the viagra and watch it become soluble in organic solvents. The gypsum won't.

I said it looked like GC only because of the peaks on the graph I saw. I was not sure what it was. My point was simply that testing beyond simple observation is needed, not that they were using gas chromatography. That is scary.

 

[pharmacyanalyst]

I saw that and was shocked by the fact that the lady who sold the fakes only got 18 months what a slap on the wrist.

Pretty ridiculous- it should be attempted murder.

 

[Pharm47]

My favorite part was the 30 or so phone calls my pharmacy got on Monday morning:

"Does your pharmacy get it's supply from China!?!?"

 

[pharmacyanalyst]

My favorite part was the 30 or so phone calls my pharmacy got on Monday morning:

"Does your pharmacy get it's supply from China!?!?"

Yep- Our call center was flooded but we had a fact sheet from McKesson already on file from the last time they aired this special in 2006.