Be warned: Counterfeit Tamiflu

Customs agents have intercepted more than 50 shipments of counterfeit Tamiflu, the antiviral drug being stockpiled in anticipation of a bird flu pandemic, marking the first such seizures in the U.S., authorities said Sunday.

 

The first package was intercepted Nov. 26 at an air mail facility near San Francisco International Airport, said Roxanne Hercules, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

 

Since then, agents have seized 51 separate packages, each containing up to 50 counterfeit capsules labeled generic Tamiflu.

 

The fake drugs had none of Tamiflu's active ingredients, and officials were running tests to determine what the capsules did contain. Initial tests indicated some vitamin C in the capsules, said David Elder, director of the Food and Drug Administration Office of Enforcement.

 

Information on the packages was written in Chinese, but it is unclear where the drugs originated, Elder said.

 

They were sent by Asian suppliers to individuals who placed orders over the Internet, Hercules said. She said none of the shipments intercepted so far was bound for doctors or hospitals.

 

Agents became suspicious because Tamiflu is produced by Swiss pharmaceutical manufacturer Roche, and there is no generic version available.

 

"What we're trying to do is alert the American public that they shouldn't be buying this product because we may never be able to track down the manufacturers," Elder said Sunday. "We've anticipated the likelihood of counterfeits from the very beginning. People are trying to profit on the heightened concerns of the American public."

 

The H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has ravaged poultry stocks in Asia and killed at least 71 people since 2003. Tamiflu is one of two drugs found to be effective against it.

 

Fears of a bird flu pandemic have increased as the virus has spread into poultry in Europe. While bird flu has not yet appeared in the United States, or been found to transmit from person to person, officials worry it could mutate and, because humans have no immunity to it, become contagious globally.

 

President Bush has requested $7.1 billion in emergency flu preparedness funds.

 

Buy the original Tamiflu here

Tamiflu is Oseltamivir

Oseltamivir is an antiviral drug, a neuraminidase inhibitor used in the treatment and prophylaxis of both influenza A and influenza B. Oseltamivir was the first orally active neuraminidase inhibitor commercially developed. It was developed by Gilead Sciences and is currently marketed by Hoffman-La Roche (Roche) under the trade name Tamiflu®.

 

Oseltamivir is a prodrug (usually administered as phosphate), it is hydrolysed hepatically to the active metabolite, the free carboxylate of oseltamivir (GS4071).

 

Like zanamivir, oseltamivir acts as a transition-state analogue inhibitor of influenza neuraminidase.

 

With increasing fears about the potential for a new influenza pandemic, oseltamivir has received substantial media attention. Production capacity is limited and governments are stockpiling the drug.

 

Tamiflu® is also used in cases of avian influenza (bird flu). Be prepared for avian influenza (bird flu) - Learn More ...

Tamiflu is a cost effective choice

In Hong Kong a human strain of the avian flu that has surfaced, also known as H5N1 is becoming widely spread, and it is thought that this strain of the avian flu will kill millions of people around the world.

 

Tamiflu® is taken twice a day as a preventative measure when a person has been exposed to the flu. Tamiflu® is taken twice a day as a treatment for the flu, at the first onset of flu like symptoms. For those who are highly susceptible to the flu, and the deadly side effects the flu can have on the body, the flu shot is the best line of defense, but when cost, and availability of the flu shot is an issue, Tamiflu® is a cost effective choice.