Dave Sunday has focused on stopping pharmacies that sell illegal medications to consumers.
Attorney General Dave Sunday recently warned consumers in Pennsylvania to beware of counterfeit medications that some pharmacies are selling, specifically linked to HIV treatments and some weight loss drugs. Sunday’s office also put pressure on the federal government to crack down on counterfeit weight loss pens that led to hospitalizations in Pennsylvania and across the nation. In February, Sunday joined 37 other state and territorial attorneys general in a bipartisan letter requesting the FDA take immediate action on companies selling unapproved GLP-1 products for steep profits.
Sunday also warned of pharmacies that in either a fraudulent or illegal manner and told consumers to use caution when responding to telehealth ads that are more common in the summer months. According to Sunday, many of these pharmacies are online, and do not have an actual physical location.
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy said there are over 40,000 online suppliers of medications that are operating in an unlawful manner. The attorney general’s office announced charges Wednesday in an official press release, stating that Surnil Pharmacies Inc. – operating as Haussemann’s Pharmacy – dispensed more than $2 million worth of unregulated HIV drugs. Sunday charged the pharmacy and owner Subhash Patel with three counts of Medicaid fraud, one count of theft by deception, and an additional charge of violating the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device, and Cosmetics Act of 1972.
Sunday and the attorney general’s office also warned how other pharmacies are illegally selling GLP-1 injections on the open market and were skirting regulations by acting as manufacturers of drugs, instead of sellers. Telehealth firms and online pharmacies were using GLP-1 drugs – used primarily to treat Type II diabetes and obesity – to avoid regulations and achieve higher profits than would be possible under regulatory laws that control prices for drug manufacturers and licensed sellers.
As part of an open letter from 38 attorneys general, Sunday said, “online retailers are illegally selling the active ingredients of GLP-1 drugs directly to consumers, without a prescription. These retailers claim that the active ingredients they sell are ‘for research purposes only’ or ‘not for human consumption.” The letter went on to state that the Food and Drug administration is well-positioned to stop the illegal activities and had the expertise to prevent similar scams from arising in the future.
During his tenure as Pennsylvania Attorney General, Sunday has been extremely active in consumer protection initiatives, and has charged numerous organizations operating illegally in Pennsylvania, including an April crackdown on organized crime relating to cellphone theft schemes. Earlier this year, he was also appointed co-chair of the Consumer Protection Committee. The National Association of Attorneys General cited Sunday’s work in protecting senior citizens as a specific qualification.
“PA has one of the highest numbers of senior citizens in the country. And one of the reasons I readily agreed to do this is because of the complexity in the scams,” said Sunday in a statement. The committee’s focus will be on protecting vulnerable consumers in heavily populated areas around the country from online scams. At the time, Sunday promised expanding resources for enforcement and regulation of consumer protection activities.
