FirstMed Consulting Blog

A doctor known as the “King of Viagra” due to the huge amount of fake tablets he was peddling, was jailed this week after pleading guilty to being part of a global conspiracy to sell fake medicines.

Dr George Patino, 48, sold thousands of counterfeit tablets online to customers across the world.
Following his arrest by investigators from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency at Heathrow in 2005, a court heard he was taking up to 200 orders a day for various medicines, including the impotence drug Viagra.

Instead of the medicine coming in the manufacturer Pfizer’s packaging, they arrived to customers in brown bottles. The labeling gave a return address as a Finnish post box number to deliberately conceal the identities of those behind the operation. The drugs were bought from Chinese suppliers for as little as 50 US cents (25p) but sold on to unsuspecting customers for up to £20 per tablet.

The court was read a number of emails from disgruntled customers complaining that the tablets were fake and had no effect.

Patino pleaded guilty on the basis that his criminality netted him $237,000 (£133,000).

Mick Deats, head of enforcement at the MHRA, said: “Counterfeit medicines are dangerous. They are designed to deceive patients and health care professionals and generate vast profits.”

The business in fake erectile dysfunction medication is huge worldwide and is run by all sorts of different criminal organizations. You should be extremely careful about buying erectile dysfunction medication online and always take care to use trusted pharmacies. Read our links on What to Look out For before making any online purchase.