Sick Business
Counterfeit Medicines & Organized Crime

By Graham Satchwell
December 2004
Stockholm Network
ISBN: 0954766326
136 pages, 5” x 7 ¾”
$22.50 Paper Original

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Recent decades have seen an astounding change in the way we view healthcare. Medical innovation has brought new treatments for all sorts of diseases. But there is a dark side to the growth in demand for medicines. Counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals is now a global trade.

Conducted by a former policeman, this investigation into the trade in fake medicines and its links with organized crime uncovers a horrifying story. Across Europe, counterfeiters have discovered a range of easy routes for selling fake and sub-standard products into the legitimate distribution chain.

This book shows how, to the uninitiated eye, this crime is invisible. Most patients and consumers are unaware of just how many public safety problems counterfeit medicines may cause. It reveals that this illegal business is conducted by unscrupulous people whose actions have already cost thousands of lives and may even be linked to terrorist activity – yet almost nothing is being done to stop it. It should be read by anyone with an interest in keeping Europe safe.

Contents include:

Introduction
Counterfeit drugs and the Internet
The growth in parallel trade
The current regulatory and enforcement regime
Opportunities in an under-policed environment
Linking ‘diversion’, parallel trade and counterfeiting
Case Studies
Organized crime and terrorism
Conclusions and recommendations
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography

Health Policy


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