Sheriff Luna, Actor Danny Trejo, and Others Speak on “The Dangers of Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals”

LOS ANGELES — On Dec. 14, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, the Association for Safe Online Pharmacies, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, Crimestoppers, LAPD, Homeland Security, HALT, The National Intellectual Property Rights Center and actor Danny Trejo  came together to bring awareness on counterfeit medicines that kill people daily.

Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals are an ongoing problem and their message is “bad meds kill real people.”

“We want to encourage community members to make better decisions when buying their pharmaceuticals and to ensure they buy from legitimate sources to guarantee that the medicines they receive are authentic,” said Sheriff Luna. 

The Sheriff went on to say that in the last few years, counterfeit pharmaceuticals are increasingly prevalent and profitable. The counterfeit pharma industry is worth more than $200 billion annually and growing. Luna noted counterfeiters produce versions of all types of medicines and  these drugs may contain no active ingredient, harmful ingredients, the wrong drug, the incorrect concentration, or the wrong dose. All these scenarios place patients at risk for treatment failure, harmful side effects, and dangerous drug interactions including death.

Actor Danny Trejo is featured in a public service announcement to spread awareness of counterfeit medicine’s dangers. Trejo said he’s honored he is able to work for this campaign to reach out to the public and educate the dangers of counterfeit medicines. “Kids are playing with Russian roulette,” said Trejo.

Alliance of Safe Online Pharmacies provided information during forensic lab testing that revealed four of every ten counterfeit pills contain a potentially lethal dose of harmful ingredients. The World Health Organization reports more than one million deaths occur annually from counterfeit or substandard medicine and drugs. With the COVID-19 pandemic driving more than half of American consumers to purchase medicine online, the Alliance of Safe Online Pharmacies reports: 95% of the world’s 35,000 online pharmacies are operating illegally. The risk of receiving “Bad Meds” is more significant than ever.

Captain Al Lopez from Los Angeles Police Department described how the Hispanic communities are affected by counterfeit medication during the Flu, COVID, and RSV season. “Its important to bring light to this growing problem.”

In conclusion, this campaign is to educate everyone that “Bad meds kill real people.”

Details: https://lasd.org/badmeds/