Partnership for Safe Medicines First Annual Interchange Conference Huge Success
“It is sad to realize that we live in a world in which some criminals are willing to maximize profits by placing poisons in products like infant formula, toothpaste and medically necessary drugs. But it is a reality we must face. And, more importantly, it is a reality that we must become more proactive in dealing with, “ - Commission Margaret A. Hamburg, of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in her keynote address.
The Partnership for Safe Medicine’s First Annual Interchange occurred Friday morning, October 8th for a day of intriguing panels on counterfeit drugs investigating the victims, criminals, and law enforcers. After opening remarks by Scott LaGanga, the first panel included Rick Roberts, a patient who survived getting a counterfeit version of a life-saving medication. Also speaking was Walt Bogdanich, investigative reporter for the New York Times, who has investigated deadly incidents of counterfeiting in Haiti and China.
Following a morning break, attendees listened to panelists from US law enforcement agencies, including FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, the Department of Justice and the Department of Commerce.
After the luncheon speaker, Bejon Misra, the final panel at 1:00pm, included speakers from the CDC, the Irish Medicines Board and US Immigrations & Customs Enforcement. The day ended with Commissioner Hamburg’s keynote address at 2:30pm.
Those unable to attend can watch the C-Span coverage here. PSM will launch its YouTube channel with full video transcripts of the conference in late October.
Photos of the conference are available on Flickr here.
Speaker presentations are available here in pdf format.
Commissioner Hamburg’s keynote address is available here [pdf].
Press Coverage of PSM Interchange 2010 available here.
