BOGUS MEDICINE

Gilead Says Counterfeit Drug Ring Sold Fake Versions of Its HIV Drugs in Pharmacies

Some of the drugs that ended up in the supply chain included an over-the-counter painkiller and an antipsychotic.

The drug company Gilead has said a group of counterfeit drug distributors sold fake versions of its HIV drugs that wound up in circulation at several pharmacies, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The newly unsealed lawsuit from the company, which was filed last year, said the group bought the drugs from homeless and drug-addicted patients with HIV and then used fake documents to resell them. It’s unclear how many of the pills were actually fake or simply distributed under counterfeit documents, but some of the drugs that ended up in the supply chain included an over-the-counter painkiller and an antipsychotic. The medications implicated include Biktarvy, which is used to treat HIV patients, and Descovy, which is a form of pre-exposure prophylaxis taken by those at risk of infection. Gilead asked for damages and an injunction preventing the sellers from distributing the drugs, whether real or fake.