Drug theft costs pharma $71B yearly

Counterfeit drugs and outright theft cost the pharmaceuticals industry some $71 billion a year, according to a new study from a consumer advocacy group known as America's Watchdog.

Counterfeiting alone pilfers some $70 billion from drug makers pockets, the group estimated. The remainder? A phenomenon known as "diversion," in which contract manufacturers agreed to make, say, 1 million pills but make 1.5 million instead, selling the extras on the black market--usually via the Internet. Drug makers are working hard to fight this problem, using RFID tags and other inventory control measures, the group said.

- see this article from in-PharmaTechnologist.com

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