Fraudsters are Using Grindr to Buy HIV Meds

By: Brandon M. Macsata, CEO, ADAP Advocacy; Shabbir Imber Safdar, Executive Director, Partnership for Safe Medicines

Earlier this year, ADAP Advocacy, in collaboration with the Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM),  issued an important safety alert warning Grindr's users to stop selling their HIV and other medications on the popular gay dating App. Medicine buyback schemes falsely claim to be "Buyers Clubs" making medicine available to people who cannot afford them. In reality criminals buy medicine, and sometimes empty bottles, from patients and sell them at a discount to unsuspecting pharmacies who dispense it to patient victims. The safety alert urged Grindr's users to be more mindful of patient safety.

Photo Source: ADAP Advocacy

Grindr, as well as potentially other dating Apps, are being used as a platform for fake user profiles operating under counterfeit drug rings to buy prescription medications. This seemingly innocent practice is not only illegal, but it is jeopardizing the drug supply chain and putting the health of patients at risk for health complications, severe illness, and even death. It often targets high-cost drugs – because the potential profit spread is higher – often associated with the treatment of cancer, diabetes, and HIV (and others).

This is not a theoretical patient danger: over the past five years, hundreds of millions of dollars of HIV medicine has been diverted and counterfeited in the drug supply this way, resulting in some patients getting fake medicines. 

ADAP Advocacy and PSM potentially uncovered one such counterfeit drug ring in New Orleans Parish earlier this year and immediately alerted both the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, as well as Gilead Sciences. Earlier this year, Gilead Sciences uncovered a criminal enterprise centered in Florida distributing over $230 million of counterfeit drugs, some of which were their HIV antiretroviral medications.

In response to the Florida fraudsters, ADAP Advocacy and PSM aired a public service announcement sharing some important steps patients can take to combat counterfeit drugs. Additionally, PSM hosted an online briefing focused on recent breaches in the United States drug supply chain that put patients living with HIV at risk.

If you see people trying to buy medicine on dating apps, please report them to us.

• REPORT FRAUDSTERS by filling out this webform
• By emailing us at report@safemedicines.org
• By texting us at (415) 367-0067.

Additional collaboration on patient safety in the fight against counterfeit drug rings is warranted in this space. Download the safety alert, here.

Photo Source: ADAP Advocacy

Disclaimer: Guest blogs do not necessarily reflect the views of the ADAP Advocacy Association, but rather they provide a neutral platform whereby the author serves to promote open, honest discussion about public health-related issues and updates.

HIV & Diabetes

By: Sarah Hooper,  intern, ADAP Advocacy Association, and rising senior at East Carolina University

Diabetes is a disease all too familiar in the United States. Those who are of older age, have family history of the disease, and are overweight are at high risk of developing either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes at some point in their lifetime. One risk factor that is not spoken on is the risk HIV positive persons being more likely to have Type 2 diabetes. 

Statistics released by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") recommend those living with HIV should have blood glucose levels checked before starting treatment with HIV medications, as some may need to avoid certain medications if they have higher blood glucose levels.

Photo Source: extremetech.com

While people living with HIV/AIDS are at a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, it can be prevented and managed properly. HHS recommends maintaining a healthy weight, eating healthy and adding physical activity to one’s daily routine. However, for HIV-positive patients who already have diabetes, finding proper medications for HIV that work alongside diabetes medication can be difficult. 

“As antiretroviral therapy is now recommended for all patients regardless of CD4 T lymphocyte (CD4) cell count, and because therapy must be continued indefinitely, the focus of patient management has evolved from identifying and managing early antiretroviral-related toxicities to individualizing therapy to avoid long-term adverse effects, including diabetes and other metabolic complications, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, kidney dysfunction, bone loss, and weight gain,” HSS said on its website. 

Predisposed conditions also put individuals at risk of adverse effects of ARV medications for HIV: these include underlying liver disease, viral hepatitis, psychiatric disorders and genetic factors. Finding an effective regimen for HIV that works alongside other medications is a tricky business, according to the HHS.

“Switching a patient from an effective ARV agent or regimen to a new agent or regimen must be done carefully and only when the potential benefits of the change outweigh the potential risks of altering treatment. The fundamental principle of regimen switching is to maintain viral suppression,” HHS said. (HHS, 2019)

In 2018, a cross sectional study looking at people living with HIV/AIDS in London was held to determine prevalence and risk factors for type two diabetes. Alastair Duncan and his colleagues discovered that the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes was alarmingly high. One in three patients had pre-diabetes or Type 2 diabetes. (Duncan, A., Goff, L., & Peters, B.)

“The duration of HIV infection, ARV treatment and particularly the use of metabolically toxic ARVs, weight gain following initiation of ARVs, and the presence of lipodystrophy are all significantly associated with an increased risk of dysglycaemia,” Duncan said.

This high prevalence of Type 2 diabetes in HIV-positive patients requires improved screening targeted to older patients, according to Duncan’s study. Antiretrovirals cause weight gain, which can in turn greatly increase the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes. (NIH, 2019).

People living with HIV/AIDS who are concerned about the chance of developing diabetes should speak to their primary care provider about solutions and new medications to look at. 

References:

• Duncan, A., Goff, L., & Peters, B. (2018, March 12). Type 2 diabetes prevalence and its risk factors in HIV: A cross-sectional study. Retrieved July 29, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5847234/
• Adverse Effects of ARV Limitations to Treatment Safety and Efficacy Adult and Adolescent ARV. (2019, December 18). Retrieved July 29, 2020, from https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/guidelines/html/1/adult-and-adolescent-arv-guidelines/31/adverse-effects-of-arv
• HIV and Diabetes Understanding HIV/AIDS. (2019, October 18). Retrieved July 29, 2020, from https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/understanding-hiv-aids/fact-sheets/22/59/hiv-and-diabetes

Disclaimer: Guest blogs do not necessarily reflect the views of the ADAP Advocacy Association, but rather they provide a neutral platform whereby the author serves to promote open, honest discussion about public health-related issues and updates.