A court in Maryland has sentenced a Jordanian national, Iyad Dogmosh, to four years prison for the trafficking of 38,249 counterfeit tablets, imitating Pfizer’s blockbuster erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra. In addition, Mr Dogmosh will be deported from the USA upon completion of his imprisonment.

Details of the case were provided by the US Department of Justice, which noted that the drugs had an estimated wholesale value of $402,379. The fake Viagra contained only small amounts of the genuine active ingredient, but was bulked up with metronidazole, an antibiotic which has side effects if used with alcohol.

The case highlights the discrepancy between punishments for counterfeit drugs and those for illegal narcotics, despite the threat to public health posed by the former. A drug dealer sentenced in a Maryland court in May faced a 14- to 17-year sentence for selling narcotics, though this was extended to life because of the defendant’s alleged involvement in a separate murder, the Baltimore Sun reported.

World fake drug market growing
A study by the USA-based think-tank, the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest published in 2005, predicted that, by 2010, the fake medicine business would be worth $75.0 billion in global sales. Among the main reasons for the attractiveness of dealing in fake drugs is the fact that they are high-value lightweight goods and punishments are relatively lenient in many countries, the report said.