After Counterfeit Avastin Infiltrates Supply Chain, FDA Goes After Doctors

| 19 April 2012 | By Alexander Gaffney, RAC 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is going after doctors in an attempt to protect the pharmaceutical supply chain from more instances of counterfeit medicines, reports Medscape News.

There have been two instances of fake Avastin being found in the US in 2012-one in early April and another in mid-February. Both cases involved doctors deviating from approved suppliers to purchase Avastin from unauthorized wholesalers.

While FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg has called for additional anti-counterfeiting authority-which she has called woefully inadequate and outdated-in light of steadily increasing risks, the agency said it will go after doctors in the meantime.

"Clinicians in several states have been warned by FDA to stop purchasing medications from foreign or unlicensed suppliers that sell illegal prescription medication," wrote Medscape News.

FDA has sent out 12 letters to doctors who are reportedly purchasing illegal medications in the hopes that the agency can "minimize the chance of patients receiving a counterfeit, unsafe, or ineffective medication."

"The FDA is emphasizing that medical practices buy directly from manufacturers or licensed US wholesale distributors," explained Medscape News.

Read more:

Medscape news - FDA Warns Docs Who Buy Meds From Unapproved Sources

Read all Regulatory Focus stories on Avastin