Overview
The Counterfeit Medicines and Illicit Substances Working Group is a bipartisan initiative bringing together state leadership and cross-sector partners around two related but distinct threats to public health and consumer protection: the global trade in counterfeit prescription medicines, and the rapid rise of unregulated, high-potency synthetic substances. These threats exploit gaps in the supply chain, prey on consumers seeking legitimate treatment or relief, and move faster than the regulatory frameworks designed to contain them.
This Working Group will organize its efforts around the following priorities:
-Build a shared understanding of how counterfeit medicines and unregulated synthetic substances enter the market.
-Strengthen engagement among state and federal law enforcement, regulators, industry partners, and public health experts to identify bad actors, disrupt distribution networks, and refer cases for enforcement.
-Evaluate emerging state-level regulatory models, such as alkaloid concentration limits and labeling standards, to identify practical, scalable approaches other jurisdictions can consider.
-Develop consumer education resources that help the public recognize the warning signs of counterfeit medicines and mislabeled synthetic products and that promote safe purchasing practices.
-Support information sharing among jurisdictions on enforcement outcomes, product testing results, and emerging threats so responses can keep pace with rapidly changing tactics.
-Explore public-private partnership opportunities with manufacturers, distributors, online marketplaces, and payment platforms to strengthen supply chain integrity and reduce the accessibility of illicit products.
Counterfeit medicines and unregulated illicit substances both put patients and consumers at serious risk, often without their knowledge. A cancer patient trusting a refill and a parent buying something marketed as “safe” off a convenience store shelf both deserve confidence that what they are buying is safe and is what it claims to be. By uniting these two issues under one working group, AGA builds on the enforcement relationships, data, and stakeholder commitment to protecting public health that these issues share, creating a more effective response than two separate efforts could achieve on their own.
For more information, contact:
Tania Maestas, Deputy Executive Director