Bipartisan legislation will help deter criminals from selling dangerous counterfeit drugs

WASHINGTON – Today the House Judiciary Committee approved bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan (PA-07) to increase penalties for trafficking counterfeit drugs. The Counterfeit Drug Penalty Enhancement Act, introduced by Meehan and Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) will increase penalties for the trafficking of counterfeit drugs to reflect the severity of the crime and the harm to the public.

“This is a great step forward in our efforts to stop counterfeiters from selling illegal, unregulated and uninspected drugs,” said Meehan. “As a prosecutor, I saw the hand of sophisticated criminal enterprises behind counterfeit operations. We need steeper penalties to deter criminals from continuing to break our laws and put people’s lives at risk.”

While it is currently illegal to introduce counterfeit drugs into interstate commerce, the penalties are no different than those for the trafficking of other products, such as electronics or clothing. The Counterfeit Drug Penalty Enhancement Act will target violators that knowingly manufacture, sell or traffic counterfeit medicines to the United States.

According to the World Health Organization, counterfeit drugs cause 100,000 deaths worldwide each year. Last month following the G8 summit at Camp David, the G8 leaders issued a declaration that included a vow to “share best practices on combating counterfeit medical products.”

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