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Take a look at these two pills.

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Do you notice a difference between them?

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How about these two?

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Do you see a difference here?

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How about these?

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To the naked eye, these pills are 
indistinguishable,

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but at a chemical level, they are 
very, very different.

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In each case, the pill on the left is
real; it will help you get better.

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The pill on the right is counterfeit; it 
will not help you get better.

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In some cases, it may even kill you.

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Katherine Ivan, author of

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Dangerous Doses: How Counterfeiters 
Are Contaminating America's Drug Supply

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explains that phony 
pharmaceuticals are drugs that

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have been diluted, drugs in which 
the active ingredient has been

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replaced with something else, or 
drugs that have been relabeled to

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appear as something stronger than 
they truly are.

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Taking a phony pharmaceutical 
means that you do not receive the

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medicine you need to get better, 
and the results can be deadly.

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I first became aware of this issue 
after my younger sister received a

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phony drug for her asthma last summer.

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Fortunately, the error was 
discovered before it cost her any

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lasting harm, but I've been 
concerned about the issue ever since

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and did a great deal of research on 
it for this speech.

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As a result, I'm convinced that we 
need to take action now to combat

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the problem of phony pharmaceuticals.

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Later in my speech, I'll share with 
you my plan for curbing the spread

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of these dangerous drugs.

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Let's start by taking a look at the 
problem.

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Phony pharmaceuticals are 
dangerous because of the health risks

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they pose.

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According to Graham Jackson, 
editor of the International Journal of

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Clinical Practice, "counterfeit drugs 
include ingredients such as:

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boric acid, gutted road paint, floor 
polish, shoe polish, talcum powder,

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and cement powder."

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But that's not all.

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There's also brick dust, chalk, 
nickel, and arsenic.

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Ingesting too much boric acid or 
floor polish can make you sick.

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Gutted road paint and arsenic can 
kill you.

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In one highly publicized case, 
81 people in the United States died

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in 2008 because they took a 
counterfeit version

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of the blood thinner Heparin.

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As reported by CNN, the phony 
Heparin was originally manufactured

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outside the United States using a 
cheap sulfate that proved deadly.

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After slipping past all of our 
regulatory checks, it ended up in the

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United States with tragic results.

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The US Government Bureau of 
International Information Programs

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estimates that 700,000 people 
around the world will die this year

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from phony pharmaceuticals, 
almost 3 times the number of people

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who live here, in Madison.

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In fact, Roger Bate of the American 
Enterprise Institute reports that

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trafficking in counterfeit drugs has 
become one of the world's fastest

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growing criminal enterprises.

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Phony pharmaceuticals are so 
widespread that they have become

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big business.

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The FDA estimates that they will 
bring in close to $75 billion in revenue

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this year alone, up from $40 billion
only a few years ago.

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Tom Cubic, head of the 
Pharmaceutical Security Institute told

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USA Today in September 2010 that 
criminals can make more money in

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counterfeit drugs than they can in heroin.

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Given the rewards of the 
counterfeit drug trade, the problem

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will only get worse in the coming 
years unless we take steps to bring

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it under control.

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The solution I propose is similar to 
House Resolution 27-26,

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which is under consideration by the 
US Congress.

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There are 4 steps to this solution: 
first, criminal penalties for drug

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counterfeiters should be increased 
from 3 years in prison, which is

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the current limit, to no limit at all.


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If a drug peddler kills someone with 
phony pharmaceuticals,

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the punishment should fit the crime.

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Second, the Food and Drug 
Administration should have the

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authority to recall prescription drugs.

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Right now, the FDA can encourage
drug manufacturers to issue a recall,

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but it has no power to issue a recall 
on its own.

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To get phony pharmaceuticals off 
the street, recall authority needs to

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rest with the central agency that will 
act quickly and uniformly.

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Third, the FDA should be given the 
resources for spot checking the

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chemical makeup of prescription 
medication.

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We have health inspectors for food. 


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Why not have inspectors for 
prescription drugs?

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Fourth, legitimate drug 
manufacturers should be required to

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implement track and trace technology.

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As explained in the New York 
Times, this technology stamps each

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bottle and pill with a unique code 
tied to a secure centralized database.

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The code allows pharmacies and 
distributors to determine whether

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drugs are legitimate or phony plus 
the route drugs took to get to store

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shelves.

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Representative Steve Israel of
New York,

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sponsor of House Resolution 27-26,

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says this bill will ensure that the 
domestic drug supply chain is secure

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for every American.

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It will crack down on counterfeiting 
and increase penalties for the outlaws

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who are compromising our health.

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The time has come for Congress to 
pass this vital legislation.

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In conclusion, phony 
pharmaceuticals are pervasive and

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dangerous.

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By implementing the solution I've 
outlined, we will be able to control this

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public health menace.

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You have the right to know that the 
medication you're taking is real.

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You have the right to know that 
your next trip to the drug store will be

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a safe one.

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And you have the right to know that 
what you see is what you get.

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[Applause]