Watch the briefing here and see the full agenda: https://www.safemedicines.org/2019/02/2019-congressional-briefings.html On Thursday, January 31, 2019, victims of counterfeit medicines and their families, local law enforcement, former DEA agents, and other experts in the fight against counterfeit medicines met for a discussion about the widespread impact fake drugs are having on communities and on the enormous burden the problem places on regulators who are responsible for our drug safety. Since last year's briefing in April 2018, the number of states reporting fake counterfeit medicine laced with fentanyl or fentanyl analogues has risen from 43 to 46. 29 of those states have linked deaths to the drugs.

1. Kenneth L. McCall
Pharm.D, BSPharm, Pharm.D., BCGP, RPh, FAPhA
Associate Professor | UNE College of Pharmacy
Past-President | Maine Pharmacy Association
Board Member, The Partnership for Safe Medicines

2. PSM Members
Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy
Alaska Pharmacists Association
American Association for Homecare
American College Health Association
American Pharmacists Association
American Society of Health System
Pharmacists
Arizona Pharmacy Association
Association for Accessible Medicines
Association of Nurses in AIDS Care
BioForward
Biotechnology Innovation
Organization
California Life Sciences Association
California Pharmacists Association
California Society of Health-System
Pharmacists (CSHP)
Colorado BioScience Association
Community Access National Network
Delaware Pharmacists Society
European Federation of
Pharmaceutical Industries and
Associations (EFPIA)
Healthcare Distribution Alliance
HealthCare Institute of New Jersey
Healthcare Distribution Alliance
HealthCare Institute of New Jersey
Healthcare Leadership Council
The Hispanic Institute
Illinois Pharmacists Association
Institute for Safe Medication Practices
International AntiCounterfeiting
Coalition
International Federation of
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and
Associations
International Health Facility Diversion
Association
Kidney Cancer Association
The Latino Coalition
The Life Raft Group
Maryland Pharmacists Association
Maine Pharmacy Association
Maine Society of Health-System
Pharmacists (MSHP)
Men’s Health Network
Minnesota Pharmacists Association
Missouri Pharmacy Association
National Alliance for Hispanic Health
National Alliance On Mental Illness
National Association of Chain Drug
Stores
National Association of Boards of
Pharmacy
National Association of Drug
Diversion Investigators
National Association of
Manufacturers
National Alliance of State Pharmacy
Associations
National Community Pharmacists
Association
National Consumers League
National Grange of the Order of
Patrons of Husbandry
NeedyMeds
New York State Council of Health-
system Pharmacists (NYSCHP)
North Carolina Association of
Pharmacists
Oklahoma Pharmacists Association
Parenteral Drug Association
Pennsylvania Pharmacists
Association
Pennsylvania Society of Health-
system Pharmacists
Pharmaceutical Industry Labor-
Management Association (PILMA)
Pharmaceutical Security Institute
Pharmacist Planning Services, Inc.
PhRMA
RetireSafe
Rx Partnership
The Sharing Alliance
Spina Bifida Association
Texas Pharmacy Association
Texas Society of Health-System
Pharmacists
United States Chamber of Commerce
University of New England College of
Pharmacy
University of Texas at Austin College
of Pharmacy
Vietnam Veterans of America
Virginia Pharmacists Association
Vermont Pharmacists Association
West Virginia Rx
WomenHeart

3. Briefing Partners
● ADAP Advocacy Association
● Alabama Pharmacy Association
● Alliance for Safe Online
Pharmacies
● American Pharmacists
Association
● BeMedWise
● Coalition for a Secure and
Transparent Internet
● Community Access National
Network
● Healthcare Institute of New Jersey
● Maryland Pharmacists Association
● Minnesota Pharmacists
Association
● National Alliance of State
Pharmacy Associations
● National Association of Boards
of Pharmacy
● National Association of Chain
Drug Stores
● National Association of Drug
Diversion Investigators
● National Consumers League
● NeedyMeds
● New Mexico Pharmacists
Association
● Ohio Pharmacists Association
● Oklahoma Pharmacists
Association
● Pharmaceutical Security Institute
● Rx Partnership
● Texas Pharmacy Association

5. Help Protect Americans
● Help educate Americans about the deadly risks of
counterfeit prescription drugs;
● Support the law enforcement entities at the Federal,
state, and local level who stop counterfeits; and
● Protect and strengthen our closed secure drug supply
chain and never weaken it.

6. Tosh Ackerman of Aptos, CA
The evening of October 27, 2015, 29-year-old Aptos,
California resident Tosh Ackerman took a benadryl
and part of a Xanax pill to help him sleep. He never
woke up, and his girlfriend found him dead the next
day.
Investigation showed that Ackerman’s Xanax was
counterfeit. It contained a fatal dose of fentanyl.
1
Carrie is an active speaker to schools and the media. You can
reach her at ToshsStory@gmail.com

7. Maggie DiVita Crowley,
Wellington, FL
On the evening of September 1, 2016, in Wellington,
Florida, 34-year-old restaurant manager Margaret
DiVita Crowley took a single oxycodone pill she had
purchased from an acquaintance to deal with her
chronic back pain. She died almost instantly of furanyl
fentanyl poisoning.
2
Orthopedic surgeon Johnny Benjamin, Jr. made the pill that killed
Maggie, using drugs and a pill press he ordered on the internet.

8. Rick Roberts, San Francisco, CA
In 2000, learned that the HGH injections
he took to prevent wasting were
counterfeit.
A wholesaler, “Rekcus,” smuggled it into
the legitimate drug supply. After many
transactions, it landed at his local
pharmacy. The fake drug was a huge
threat to his then-precarious health and
his piece of mind.
“I take over 10,000 pills a year. I depend on prescription
drugs to stay alive, and I need them to be safe.”

9. The threat of
imported counterfeit drugs
DEA Deputy Assistant Administrator Keith Brown
Executive Director Daniel Salter Atlanta-Carolinas HIDTA
Sheriff Keith Cain, Daviess County, KY, Member, Board of Directors, National
Sheriffs’ Association (NSA), Chairman, NSA Drug Enforcement Committee
Sven Bergmann, Senior Advisor Anti-Illicit Trade, PSM
January 31st, 2019
Washington, DC

11. Fentanyl-laced counterfeits
Counterfeit Oxycodone
Source: Public Health Seattle & King County
Counterfeit Percocet
Source: Georgia Bureau of Investigations
Counterfeit Xanax
Source: Yakima Police Department
Counterfeit OcyContin
Source: Atlanta Law Enforcement / DEA

12. Fentanyl-laced counterfeit

14. Fentanyl is driving overdose deaths
Data source 1999-2017: CDC
searchable database CDC Wonder.

15. The threat of
imported counterfeit drugs
DEA Deputy Assistant Administrator Keith Brown
Executive Director Daniel Salter Atlanta-Carolinas HIDTA
Sheriff Keith Cain, Daviess County, KY, Member, Board of Directors, National
Sheriffs’ Association (NSA), Chairman, NSA Drug Enforcement Committee
Sven Bergmann, Senior Advisor Anti-Illicit Trade, PSM
January 31st, 2019
Washington, DC

16. Cartels and Counterfeits:
International Organized Crime Brings
Counterfeit Drugs to the United States
Moderator:
Aaron Graham
Executive Director - Brand Safety & Security, Boehringer Ingelheim
Panelists:
Don Bell
Former Canadian Border
Patrol Agent
Samuel J. Louis
Former Assistant United
States Attorney
Steve Murphy
retired DEA Agent
Javier Peña
retired DEA Agent

17. Thank You
Find all of our materials on fentanyl and counterfeit medications
in America at www.safemedicines.org
Please sign our 2019 joint letter
to the White House and
Congress keeping Americans
safe from counterfeit medicine.

18. Get a copy of the counterfeit incidents in your state
Alabama counterfeit infosheet Colorado counterfeit infosheet
And more,
one for
nearly every
state in the
country.
See our website www.safemedicines.org under “Policymakers and Media: State counterfeit incident
summaries”

19. Briefing Partners
● ADAP Advocacy Association
● Alabama Pharmacy Association
● Alliance for Safe Online
Pharmacies
● American Pharmacists
Association
● BeMedWise
● Coalition for a Secure and
Transparent Internet
● Community Access National
Network
● Healthcare Institute of New Jersey
● Maryland Pharmacists Association
● Minnesota Pharmacists
Association
● National Alliance of State
Pharmacy Associations
● National Association of Boards
of Pharmacy
● National Association of Chain
Drug Stores
● National Association of Drug
Diversion Investigators
● National Consumers League
● NeedyMeds
● New Mexico Pharmacists
Association
● Ohio Pharmacists Association
● Oklahoma Pharmacists
Association
● Pharmaceutical Security Institute
● Rx Partnership
● Texas Pharmacy Association