Nominet suspends fake pharma domains

 

Nominet, the .uk address registry, has suspended hundreds of internet domain names as part of a global police crackdown on crime gangs peddling fake pharmaceuticals. Operation Pangea IV saw almost 13,500 websites taken down and dozens of suspects arrested in 81 countries, according to Interpol, which coordinated the swoop. Over 2.4 million potentially harmful counterfeit pills, worth about £4m, were seized in raids between 20 and 27 of September, Interpol said. Confiscated medicines included everything from diet pills to anti-cancer drugs. Cops worked with customs agencies, ISPs, payment processors and delivery companies to close down the allegedly criminal operations, Interpol said. In the UK, Nominet acted upon advice given by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the Police Central e-Crime Unit to suspend about 500 .uk domains, according to director of operations Eleanor Bradley. While the domains were not "seized" as some have been in the US in recent months, suspending a domain stops it from resolving, essentially shutting down the associated website. Bradley said that Nominet worked with its registrar partners to shut down the domains, which were all in "clear breach" of either Nominet's or the registrar's terms and conditions. "If we didn't think it was in specific breach of our terms of conditions, we would take no action against the domain name," Bradley said. As it has on previous occasions, Nominet was able to shut down the addresses because their owners had provided bogus contact information for the Whois records, in violation of the registration agreement. Nominet is also in the late stages of a policy development process that will formalise the ways in which law enforcement agencies can ask for domain names to be taken down, without a court order if they are believed to be hosting criminal content. The process could be completed, and a policy implemented, before the end of the year. A Nominet working group recently held a period of public comment before finalising its recommendations. It is not currently clear whether domain registries in other countries also cooperated with their local law enforcement agencies as part of Pangea IV, or whether police worked with web hosting providers instead. A spokesperson for VeriSign, the registry for .com and .net, which has previously enabled the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to seize domains under court order, could not confirm or deny the company's involvement in the crackdown in time for this article's publication.

Spain seizes thousands of illegal medicines as part of international operation

 

Police in Spain have arrested seven suspects and seized almost half a million doses of illegal medicines as part of an international operation against the online sale of illegal and counterfeit medicines. It involved police in 81 countries and led to the confiscation of potentially dangerous products valued at 6.3 million dollars. The week-long Operation Pangea, coordinated by Interpol, has arrested 55 suspects and closed down more than 13,000 websites across the world. The Interior Ministry said in a press release on Thursday that the National Police have identified 69 websites were the products were offered for sale in Spain. The items seized in Spain include products for erectile dysfunction from Holland, Portugal and the UK, plus anabolic steroids and hormones which were distributed in gyms.

Spanish vaccine against HIV showing 90 percent success

 

Spanish vaccine against the HIV virus is showing 90% success. The CSIC, Superior Centre for Scientific Investigation, has today Wednesday presented the first results of tests on humans and they show promising results against the virus. The CSIC has developed and patented the vaccine which has managed to trigger an immune response against the virus in 90% of the people who have been given it. The research also shows that the effects remain for at least a year in 85% of cases. Researcher at the National Biotechnology Centre, Mariano Esteban, who took part in the research at both the Clinic Hospital in Barcelona and the Gregorio Marañón Hospital in Madrid, noted that there were no serious side effects to the vaccine, which goes under the name ‘MVA-B’. The doctor responsible for the investigating team in Barcelona, Felipe García, has said that the results should be taken with caution, because the phase one tests have been carried out on only 30 volunteers. There is more on this story in the medical journals, 'Vaccine' and 'Journal of Virology'

Global swoop nets huge haul of fake drugs: Interpol

 

Police and customs officers from 81 countries have seized 2.4 million doses of counterfeit medicine sold over the Internet during a one-week operation, international police body Interpol said Thursday. Fifty-five people were arrested during the September 20-27 operation, codenamed Pangea 4, and more than 13,000 websites closed down, Interpol said. More than 100,000 illegal doses were seized in France, over half of which were for supposed to be for treating male erection problems, France's medical security agency that took part in the operation, AFSSAPS, said. The operation was carried out for the fourth successive year in an effort to inform the public about the risks of buying medicines online. "Interpol's member countries and partners have shown through the success of Operation Pangea IV the Internet is not an anonymous safe haven for criminals trafficking illicit medicines," said Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble. The agency said it had targeted Internet service providers, online payment companies and delivery companies during the operation, in order that the whole supply chain of fake drugs be broken down. "We cannot halt the illicit online supply of medicines without a consistent, constant and collective international effort involving all sectors," said Aline Plancon, head of Interpol's fake drugs department. "The operation itself was only made possible thanks to a combined effort involving the 165 different participating agencies sharing and exchanging live information via Interpol's headquarters in Lyon," she said. Interpol has also posted messages on Internet video sharing sites warning punters "Don't Be Your Own Killer" by buying unlicensed pharmaceuticals.

Prescription Drug Arrest

 

Yancey County authorities are calling it one of their biggest prescription drug arrests this summer.  A man they suspect as one of the top dealers in the area was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon. Authorities arrested 24-year-old Christopher Elliott at his home on Satin Wood Drive in Burnsville.  Law enforcement believe Christopher and his older brother, James, traveled to South Carolina to get Oxycodone pills and then returned to the area to sell them.  They tell us the brothers have nearly a hundred clients. Christopher Elliot's arrest was part of "Operation Slinger."  The round up effort was launched back in June.  The Burnsville police department teamed up with the Yancey County Sheriff'f office to get prescription drugs of the streets. So far, 40 dealers have been arrested or charged in the operation.

Cancer drug taken by Lockerbie bomber now available in UK

 

The daily pill was found in clinical trials to extend the life of advanced prostate cancer sufferers by more than four months, far longer than previous treatments. Although it was developed by British scientists, it became available elsewhere in the world first and it is believed that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted over the Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people in 1988, has been taking it. He was released from jail in Scotland two years ago on compassionate grounds after doctors said he was terminally ill and only had three months to live, but remains alive in Libya although his family claim he is now close to death after looters stole his medicine. The drug, called abiraterone acetate and marketed as Zytiga by the pharmaceutical firm Janssen, has now been approved by the European Medicines Agency and goes on sale in Britain on Wednesday. However the NHS’s rationing body in England and Wales, Nice, is not expected to rule until next year on whether or not the drug – which costs almost £3,000 a month per patient – should be made widely available.