PSI has collected data on counterfeiting, illegal diversion and theft incidents for ten consecutive years. The yearly totals are shown on the adjacent bar chart as of December 31, 2011.
For the first time, PSI documented a decline in new incidents in CY 2011. This does not however mean the incidence of pharmaceutical crime has abated. The number of reports in the public media seems to demonstrate an increase in activity. Unfortunately many of these reports lack adequate details and cannot be included.
To better understand the magnitude of the counterfeiting incidents in CY 2011, PSI continued to track the quantity of drugs seized in each law enforcement action. Any incident which involved the seizure of more than 1,000 dosage units was classified as a commercial incident. Those incidents involving less than 1,000 dosage units were classified as non-commercial.
In CY 2011, there were 908 counterfeiting incidents which involved either customs seizures or police/health inspector raids. Nearly half of the seizures made by law enforcement were confirmed as being of "commercial" size. As the adjacent pie-chart shows, commercial seizures accounted for forty-six percent (46%). This is a slight decline in commercial size seizures compared to CY 2010 totals.
