The Last Run : A Counterfeit Story
February 2009
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In 2000, I was diagnosed with HIV Wasting Syndrome. I failed on initial treatments and was eligible for a form of human growth hormone. My insurance company approved a 12-month supply. I injected the medicine every day, and it worked.
After six months, I developed a stinging sensation at the injection site. This had not happened before. I also noticed a few other slight changes. The package appeared a darker shade of blue. The powder, usually looking like a white powder pellet in the bottom of the vial, appeared to have broken apart. None of this was alarming, but I made a mental note to ask the pharmacist.
A month later, I asked for the pharmacist and explained what was going on. He told me I may have gotten some counterfeit medicine. He explained the medicine had been recalled.
I carefully inspected my remaining medicine and packaging, and sorted it into three piles. Assuming the medicine I picked up that day was authentic, I had two piles of something else. I called the manufacturer and was told there was only one batch of counterfeit, but to take it all back. I didn’t.
After methodically re-checking each package, I was still convinced I had two different counterfeits. The vials and packaging were the only evidence that proved this had happened to me. I went to my doctor, and she said we needed to find out what I had injected and if it was dangerous. No one had an answer. I became consumed, wondering about what was in those vials, why I had two different sets of vials, and what I had done to myself by injecting inauthentic medicine.
It turns out I injected hCG—a hormone women make when they are pregnant. It was another three months until a second batch of counterfeit, my unexplained second pile, was acknowledged and identified. It most likely was produced somewhere overseas.
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