Safe Medicines: True Crime and Medicine Safety

In the latest episode of the PSM podcast, host Shabbir Imber Safdar, Executive Director of the Partnership for Safe Medicines, is joined by Dr. William H. Grover, Associate Professor of Bioengineering at UC Riverside. They talk about the motivations and innovations of The Grover Lab, and how their low-cost innovations are helping to combat the global crisis of falsified and substandard medicines. 
 
Dr. Grover introduces us to two of the groundbreaking tools developed by his lab: 
🔹 The Mbira Sensor: A $5 device inspired by a 3,000-year-old African instrument that can distinguish deadly chemical substitutions, such as diethylene glycol for glycerol. 🔹 CandyCodes: A sprinkle-based authentication system that turns medicine capsules into verifiable, tamper-evident products. 
 
These tools aren’t just creative. They’re practical, scalable, and potentially life-saving. 

In this episode, PSM Executive Director Shabbir Imber Safdar sits down with Dr. Kenneth McCall to explore his newly published study on the adverse events linked to compounded GLP-1 receptor agonists. Dr. McCall’s study, which analyzed data from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database, raises important safety questions about compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide. Tune in to learn about why compounded GLP-1s are so popular now, key findings from the FAERS data analysis, and future directions for safety and policy. 

In this episode, hosts  Krystalyn Weaver and Shabbir Imber Safdar dive into the rapidly evolving world of Prescription Drug Affordability Boards and upper payment limits—two key policy tools designed to tackle rising drug costs at the state level.
With special guests Emily Zadvorny, PharmD, BCPS, Executive Director of the Colorado Pharmacists Society, and Bridget Dandaraw-Seritt, patient advocate and Founder of Advocates for Compassionate Therapy Now, the conversation unpacks the real-world impacts of PDAB policies on pharmacies, health systems, and—most critically—patients.
From legal battles in Colorado to the concern over whether cost savings actually reach patients, this episode explores whether these efforts are targeting the right pain points or simply shifting the burden downstream.

Recently, a unit of fake Ozempic was found in an Arkansas pharmacy and identified as fake using a new tool from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, Pulse.
What does a patient, who received a counterfeit twenty five years ago, think about this magical decoder ring that can detect counterfeits in an instant today?
How does Pulse by NABP, that detected the fake Ozempic in the Arkansas pharmacy, actually work behind the scenes? What technical issues had to be overcome to get it to work?
PSM Executive Director Shabbir Imber Safdar gathers one veteran patient advocate and two of the leaders who helped build Pulse by NABP to explain all these issues and more.
Guests:
Rick Roberts, Counterfeit medicine survivor and PSM Board member
Josh Bolin, Associate Executive Director, NABP
Mark Karhoff, Principle, Tencount Consulting

In December the WHO warned about counterfeit versions of the cancer drug Imfinzi in Armenia, Lebanon and Turkey. The drugs have no active ingredient. If you’re here in the US you may be thinking, “What do sketchy drugs there have to do with me??” Well, medicine online can come from anywhere in the world.
Watch and keep with with news like this at safemedicines.org.

Our latest PSM podcast digs into the FTC's Second Interim Staff Report on Prescription Drug Middlemen and how independent pharmacists are getting squeezed by rapacious PBMs. 
with 
Garth Reynolds, BSPharm, RPh, MBA, FAPhA, Executive Director of the Illinois Pharmacists Association.
Shabbir Safdar, Executive Director, Partnership for Safe Medicines

In December federal prosecutors announced the arrest of Xiaofei “Sophie” Chen at a trade show held in Vegas last October. Chen is a Chinese national accused of illegally supplying U.S. customers with pill presses and counterfeit pill molds. Find out more about this case!

A California resident took in over a million dollars selling workout supplements called SARMs and prescription drugs--including Viagra and semaglutide--under the label Warrior Labz. Listen to learn more.