Dangerous Doses: How Counterfeiters Are Contaminating America's Drug Supply

Science News, Sept 17, 2005

DANGEROUS DOSES: How Counterfeiters Are Contaminating America's Drug Supply

KATHERINE EBAN

Investigative reporter Eban began her research into counterfeit drugs for a 2003 article for Self magazine. After being shocked by the seedy side of the prescription drug trade, she did the extensive reporting that created this in-depth report. This is not a tale of brand-name narcotics ending up on the street, but just the opposite. Here, counterfeit, stolen, and otherwise-compromised products make their way to unsuspecting patients. Eban details back-alley sales of crates of counterfeit versions of Lipitor, Procrit, Epogen, and other drugs. These same bulk shipments end up in supposedly legitimate wholesalers' possession and then on pharmacy and hospital shelves, Eban writes. The account starts with a Miami-warehouse burglary and winds from there across the country, into pharmaceutical factories and to the chambers of Congress. The author introduces so many characters on both sides of the law that she includes an eight-page "who's who" directory. Lending gravity to Eban's muckraking style are dozens of pages of endnotes. Eban also provides an index and a glossary. The author concludes that the public can no longer trust the purity of drugs, even those supplied by reputable pharmacies. Harcourt, 2005, 320 p., b&w illus, hardcover, $25.00.