CDPA bill clears Senate Judiciary Committee

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved bipartisan legislation in the USA yesterday that would increase penalties for trafficking counterfeit drugs.

The Counterfeit Drug Penalty Enhancement Act (s.1886 will increase penalties for counterfeiting medicines to "reflect the severity of the crime and the harm to the public," according to Senator Patrick Leahy (Democrat - Vermont), the bill's sponsor.

The proposed legislation would increase the maximum prison sentence for medicine counterfeiting to 20 years for individual first-time offenders, and increase the maximum fine that can be imposed on them to $4m. Repeat offenders would be liable for fines up to $8m, while institutions found guilty of trafficking could be fined $10m for a first offense and $20m for repeat offences.

"The sale of counterfeit medication is a multi-billion dollar criminal industry that threatens the health and safety of American consumers," said Leahy.  "We must do more to prevent and deter this conduct.  Counterfeiting drugs cannot be just one more low-risk venture for international organized criminals to profit."