The purpose of penalties such as fines and jail time is to address and correct perpetrators’ bad behaviors, whilst signaling to others that illicit behavior will not be tolerated – “crime will not pay.” However, when it comes to the business of counterfeit prescription medications, law enforcement falls far short as an effective deterrent. To […]
ACI in Florida Today
Worldwide, counterfeit drugs kill more than one million people each year. For Floridians, unregulated and illegally imported medications have become a big threat to public safety, and this is likely one of the many contributing factors to the recent and unexpected increase in the death rate for Americans under 65 years of age. …To continue […]
ACI in Tampa Bay Times: Florida is on the Front Line of a War on Fake Medications
Worldwide, counterfeit drugs kill more than one million people each year. The conviction earlier this month of a Palm Harbor oncologist demonstrates that Florida patients are directly at risk. Unregulated, illegally imported medications have become a big threat to public safety. Over the years, cancer patients have received fake medications containing salt and starch and […]
Real Clear Health: Counterfeits Kill: Stronger Law Enforcement Needed
When one thinks of counterfeit goods, it can conjure up images of customers being duped into buying inferior quality designer bags or other fashion knockoffs. However, when it comes to the manufacturing, distribution and sale of counterfeit medications, the outcomes can be much more serious and life threatening. Most consumers probably don’t realize that counterfeit […]
ACI Experts Write on the Health and Economic Effects of Counterfeit Drugs
Today’s American Health & Drug Benefits (AH&DB) Journal, a peer-reviewed forum, published an article written by three ACI experts — Erwin A. Blackstone, Professor of Economics at Temple University; Joseph P. Fuhr, Jr., Professor of Economics at Widener University; and Steve Pociask, President of the American Consumer Institute, Center for Citizen Research. The article can […]
Fuhr and Pociask in the Huffington Post
Joseph P. Fuhr Jr., Widener University professor and senior fellow at ACI, and Steve Pociask, ACI president, wrote a piece for the Huffington Post on the dangers of Internet Drugs. The piece can be read at the Huffington Post website.
A Few Remedies for Counterfeit Drugs
High margins and light punishments attract criminals who produce and distribute fake drugs. Counterfeiters scrimp on production costs by using alternate or no active ingredients that are brewed up in unclean labs, and they “up-label” asserting a higher potency or stolen pedigree. In 2005, drug counterfeiters grossed $32B and by 2010 that had risen to […]
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY – NEW SURVEY RESULTS
1. Artists, authors, manufacturers, and inventors use copyrights, trademarks and patents to protect their products from copycats. Do you agree or disagree that these protections are a good way to encourage innovation and creativity? A. Strongly agree (58%) B. Agree somewhat (25%) C. Neutral, neither agree nor disagree (3%) D. Disagree somewhat (5%) E. Strongly disagree (5%) F. DK/Other […]
ACI Survey Finds Consumers Support More Protection against Pirated Goods and Content — Counterfeit Goods Cited as Reducing Jobs; Harming the Economy
A national consumer survey conducted by the American Consumer Institute (ACI) finds that the vast majority of consumers support stronger intellectual property protections against trafficking of counterfeit goods. The survey of 800 consumers found 82% of consumers agreed that counterfeit goods, such as knock-off products, pirated software and imitation pharmacy drugs hurt the economy, with […]
ITIF on How Better Copyright Enforcement Would Help Consumers
Daniel Castro of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation wrote an interesting piece that outlines how consumers would be better off with more aggressive law enforcement against online piracy. The piece discusses the newly introduced Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act that looks to add protections covering software, video games, movies, music, books, photos and other […]
