A Prescription For Trouble
‘Dangerous Doses’ and America’s other drug problem.
Written by Filed under Life, Science & Technology
How has his proposal been received?
He does not yet have a co-sponsor in the Senate, and he is looking for that right now. Israel has certainly received a lot of attention, but it is an uphill battle in this Congress.
Is law enforcement gaining a greater appreciation for this problem?
Yes, they are. That’s one of the most important things that can happen. Because if a cop stops a guy with a case of Procrit in the trunk of his BMW most of the time the officer doesn’t even know that a crime has occurred. Whereas if he stops the same guy with a kilo of cocaine he knows it’s a crime.
I know “Dangerous Doses” just recently went on sale, but what kind of impact has it had on the counterfeiting problem thus far?
Actually a fairly significant one. Just after it came out two things happened in the industry. First, Cardinal Health announced that it was closing a trading division that bought from the secondary market. The other thing is that [national drugstore chain] CVS announced it was no longer going to buy from wholesalers that bought from the secondary market.
Have you personally lost faith in the pharmaceutical industry?
[Laughs]. Let me put it this way. Before I started investigating this issue I assumed that our drugs came directly from drug makers’ loading docks to our pharmacies. I didn’t know that these middlemen existed and I would say that most people don’t. For years we have been buying stolen, recycled, adulterated, substandard medicine from our pharmacies. Who knew?
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