U.S. officials close illegal Net pharmacy
 

Federal officials here said they have busted an illegal Internet pharmacy that sold up to $7 million worth of counterfeit versions of Viagra and other prescription drugs over the past five years.

The San Diego-based operation purchased the active ingredients of the drugs in Mexico and India, pressed them into pills and sold them to people who visited a Web site and paid $35 for a "doctor's consultation," authorities said yesterday.

No doctor ever looked at the questionnaires people filled out or decided whether the drugs would be safe for them to take, the operation's ringleader said when he pleaded guilty, federal officials said.

"This is being distributed without any oversight, without any physician," said Greg Schulte, supervisory special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "We've been fortunate that we haven't tied any deaths to this."

The scheme was uncovered during a yearlong investigation by his agency, the FBI, postal inspectors, the Food and Drug Administration and the Internal Revenue Service, he said.

"It's the biggest one that we've seen here in San Diego," Schulte said.

The operation sold more than 100,000 shipments of the drugs, federal officials said. More than half the shipments were of versions of Viagra.

The company purported to sell "generic" Viagra, even though the FDA has not approved the sale of anything but the name-brand version. It also sold off-brand versions of prescription anti-depressants, hair-loss treatments, pain pills and calcium supplements.

The first arrests were made March 22, and authorities said they arrested the last members of the operation Wednesday.

Pharmacist John Aldaz, 64, of Bonita and Tijuana pharmaceutical representative José Gustavo García Uriza, 55, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, counterfeiting, fraud and money-laundering charges yesterday.

The man who admitted leading the operation, Mark Kolowich, who lived in a downtown San Diego penthouse, pleaded guilty April 30 to conspiracy to illegally import pharmaceuticals, sell counterfeit drugs, commit mail fraud and launder money. He is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

Six other people, including his live-in girlfriend, also have pleaded guilty or agreed to do so.

Kolowich and other defendants have turned over more than $1 million in cash and property after pleading guilty, officials said.

The operation grossed $2.5 million to $7 million from November 1999 to March of this year, when it was raided, officials said in court papers.

Calls to Melanie Pierson, the prosecutor in the case, were not returned.

At first, members of the ring sold real, U.S.-made Viagra. They then switched to an Indian-made version of that drug and others before buying the ingredients in bulk and making the pills themselves, Schulte said.

The pills did contain the active ingredients of the legitimate versions of the drugs, but it's unclear what else they contained or how that would affect users, he said.

"Who knows what's in (the pills)? There's no legitimate medical professional involved in this process at all," said Dan Dzwilewski, special agent in charge of the San Diego FBI office. "It's all absolute fraud."

The operation's Web site directed people yesterday to another Internet pharmacy, this one in Mexico.

there are still thousand of pharmacies like this out there

Sohow much time did he get? Didnt see this anywhere

nevermind sentencing in september

Since they were selling it as "generic" and not claiming it was "real" viagra, I don't really see a problem. I think people have the right to consume whatever they want to - as long as it's labeled correctly we can make our own decisions. Since it had the same active ingredients, I'm sure it worked. There was no report here of anyone with bad reactions. The only downside I see is that Pfizer might have lost a few sales. But it's hard to feel sorry for drug companies that charge $10/pill for something that costs pennies to manufacture. (Pfizer netted a $2.8 billion profit in 2003)

CamChicks, the problem is quality control. There are already too many vitamins and supplements being sold which are not inspected by the FDA. Many of these so-called healthy vitamins kill people. When you are making batches of phony Viagra and who knows what other drugs, without any kind of control, people will get sick, die, or just be fooled into thinking that they are buying the real thing and getting no results at all.

If the US would treat their citizens fairly and give everyone excellent health care, we wouldn't be turning to these con-artists who overcharge us and sell us phony drugs. Kerry said last night that he wanted to improve our health and make sure seniors and poor people don't go without medical care and the drugs they need to stay alive. WE WILL SEE! All presidents promise us the world, and end up selling out. I can't see that Kerry will be any different.:(

"Many of these so-called healthy vitamins kill people."

What??? :1orglaugh

" Mark Kolowich, who lived in a downtown San Diego penthouse "

:)

Fuck the FDA. They takes 10 or 15 years to approve drugs that the rest of the world is already using. The FDA is a greedy bureaucratic monster more interested in protecting corporate interests and promoting political agendas than helping US citizens.

Also, the FDA does not even have jurisdiction over the supplement industry, where most of those false claims and problems you refer to occur.

As long as there is no fraud.. as long as ingredients are clearly labeled... then I will decide for myself what to swallow.

Effective products are taken off the market because 0.001% of people have a bad reaction. Well, I believe it should be up to individuals to determine the risks; not have those choices made for them.

If you cannot afford a brand-name drug, and your choice is to either go without it or buy a generic (with identical active ingredients) from India . . . what do you do? Ask a politican to decide?

Other countries are filled with humans just like yourself, and they are not trying to poison themselves. Importing drugs is quite safe.


This I agree with. The USA needs to join the rest of the civilized world by making medical care a right, not a privilege. Without life and health, your other rights don't mean much.

For those who have been taught that public hospitals mean waiting lists or inferior care - The wealthy can still jump ahead of the line and get anything they want on-demand in private hospitals - so that concern is really not an arguement against public health care. You can have both. If countires like New Zealand can work this way, so can the infinately richer USA.

I know the FDA can take way too long to approve certain drugs, but with absolutely no control, I feel a bit uncomfortable. There have been several supplements that have been taken off the market because people were having extreme adverse reactions to them. Remember L-triptophan? sp? Not all of it was bad, but enough reached the US from places like India, and people died, and it was eliminated from the market for years.

Yes, we should be able to put into our bodies whatever we please, but I am very leary of the drugs from other countries just like I'm afraid of some of the supplements that are sitting in our health food stores.

Why does it have to be so damn difficult to stay healthy? Little kids have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar, and they are just KIDS. We are eating bad crap, not exercising enough, and sitting on our butts playing with computers!!!!!!!!!!!!!