Legislation will increase penalties for trafficking counterfeit drugs

WASHINGTON – A U.S. House Subcommittee today held a hearing today on U.S. Representative Patrick Meehan’s (PA-07) bipartisan legislation to increase penalties for trafficking counterfeit drugs – a key step in the process of this bill becoming law.

The House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security today held a hearing on three bills dealing with counterfeit or stolen goods including H.R. 3668, the Counterfeit Drug Penalty Enhancement Act, a bill sponsored by Meehan and Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA-39).

“What we heard from the witnesses at today’s hearing is that counterfeit drugs are a serious problem, and a threat to public health and safety,” said Meehan. “They are illegal, unregulated, and uninspected. They create a false sense of security among purchases when in fact they can be extremely dangerous. We need steeper penalties for counterfeit drug traffickers to deter these criminals from putting people’s lives at risk.”

The Counterfeit Drug Penalty Enhancement Act will increase penalties for the trafficking of counterfeit drugs to reflect the severity of the crime and the harm to the public. While it is currently illegal to introduce counterfeit drugs into interstate commerce, the penalties are no different than those for the trafficking of other products, such as electronics or clothing. The Counterfeit Drug Penalty Enhancement Act will target violators that knowingly manufacture, sell or traffic counterfeit medicines to the United States.

The legislation responds to recommendations made by the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator and the administration’s Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Inter-agency Working Group. U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Michael Bennet (D-Co.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced the companion bill in the Senate, S. 1886, which passed the Senate on March 6, 2012.