Counterfeiting: bad medicine – International Report

Two different news reports recently presented two very different sides of the counterfeiting story. CNN recently did a piece about counterfeits in China, with a particular emphasis on Beats, a brand of headphones owned by rapper Dr Dre. The report stated that headphones that will set you back $400 in the West can be picked up for a mere $70 in China. It stated how a recent joint operation involving US and Chinese officials netted 243,000 counterfeit goods, including Beats and major brands such as Apple and Microsoft. The report went on to discuss some of the tricks used by counterfeiters to avoid detection, such as double packaging of goods, first in the counterfeit packaging that the product will be sold in and then in different packaging which is removed when the goods reach their destination.

The second report was in Business Day and dealt with the issue of counterfeit medicines. The report gave an insight into the problem of counterfeit drugs, which has become so serious that major pharmaceutical companies have teamed up with Interpol to establish a programme aimed at training law enforcement officers to identify fake prescription drugs.

http://www.iam-magazine.com/reports/detail.aspx?g=bc0ef626-d430-4f85-827e-b5fbdb1dff1d