Last night, we devotees got our long-awaited return of HBO's The Sopranos -- generally regarded as one of the best television experiences ever put together. The sympathetic anti-hero mob boss Tony Soprano was presented with an unprecedented opportunity. The series creator, David Chase, is nothing if not sensitive to the current buzz around the country, and he exploited the recent craze for cheap "Canadian" drugs by having some Montrealers pitch Tony an idea for easy money in sub-standard pharmaceuticals: they promised to get thousands of Fosamax pills, cheap, which Tony's Mafia gang could easily sneak into the stream of commerce at standard price.
At first, skeptical Tony asked the French-Canadians, "So, is this stuff counterfeit?" "Non, non," they responded, "only un peu expire" -- only a little expired, they replied -- or words to that effect (my French is poor at best).
Beware, those of you out there seeking to save a few bucks on your brand-name prescription: counterfeiters and other types of illegal traffickers in unapproved, smuggled pharmaceuticals are lying in wait, with pills and bottles that are so nearly identical to the real ones that forensic measures sometimes fail to tell the difference. These new drug gangs, like 1930s bank robber Willie Sutton, are going "where the money is." The profits from dealing in substandard, fake, and sometimes poisonous pills are as real as the profits from counterfeiting dollar bills or from smuggling heroin and cocaine, so why not, they think.
Our guard is not up for these scams, yet, and the public, politicians, and activists in the anti-pharma crowd are all demanding "safe, cheap, Canadian drugs."
Be careful what you wish for -- a real-life Tony Soprano will be happy to oblige.
Gilbert Ross, M.D., is Executive and Medical Director of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com).
See also: ACSH's full and condensed report on Counterfeit Drugs: Coming Soon to a Pharmacy Near You.
