Drug counterfeiting is a threat to the sale of legitimate, trademarked products. Counterfeit drugs reduce the safety of over-the-counter medicines and the reputations of drug manufacturers. Being accused of counterfeiting results in the losses of profits and credibility for companies in Georgia.
The business of drug counterfeiting
Drug counterfeiting is the fraudulent mislabeling of drugs to hide its genuine origins and composition. Counterfeit drugs contain specific types of active ingredients that are not mentioned on the label. The drugs include too little or excessive amounts of an ingredient that the user does not know about. There may be no active ingredients in the medicine at all. Most buyers want to save money by skipping a doctor’s prescription and buy counterfeit products from fraudulent sellers or manufacturers.
The seriousness of federal drug crimes
There are different defenses for drug counterfeiting charges. Many drug charges are prosecuted at the federal level because the drugs are often sold across state lines. Federal drug crimes that involve interstate commerce and multiple sales result in increasingly severe penalties. Selling counterfeit drugs to hundreds of consumers across state lines could result in 10 years or longer in federal prison and millions of dollars in fines.
The severity of the crime depends on the type of drug on the national drug classifications list. It depends on the location where the drug was sold, whether the buyers were minors or not and the quantities of the drugs. The most important factor is if the counterfeit drugs caused a serious illness, injury or death.
Tens of thousands of consumers buy counterfeit or stolen drugs without knowing it. They buy cheap replicas of products to save money but fail to know the full extent of the dangers. The charges for federal drug counterfeiting have serious legal consequences and are not less severe than illegal drug selling or trafficking.
