Angry in the Great White North

The Vancouver Sun explains what happened to Marcia Bergeron:

A few days before she died just after Christmas, Marcia Bergeron started losing her hair and had blurred vision -- telling friends on Quadra Island that she feared she was coming down with the flu.

It was only later that those investigating her death discovered the truth: She had slowly been poisoned.

But this is no murder mystery.

The B.C. Coroners Service announced Tuesday that it believes Bergeron, 57, was poisoned by tainted pills she ordered online from a bogus Canadian pharmacy.

Rose Stanton, regional coroner for Vancouver Island, said Bergeron's death is believed to be the first in Canada from tainted pills ordered on the Internet, and the coroners service is worried it might not be the last.

The online pharmacies in question are actually located overseas. They pose as a Canadian-based pharmacy, thus getting the trust of people looking to buy drugs online. Instead, the pills are laced with heavy metals and other contaminents:

More than 100 generic pills were found in her home. Some were in clear plastic bags, others were loose -- and none of them were labelled.

Toxicology tests conducted on the pills revealed many of them contained dangerously high levels of heavy metals which had apparently been used as filler.

"Our toxicologist wasn't sure what was going on," said Stanton. "There was strontium and uranium and lead -- things in these drugs that shouldn't have been there. ... Some of these [materials], in any quantity, are lethal. You ingest it and you die slowly over time."

The investigators are confused, though, by the actual drugs found in her system:

However, Stanton said investigators are still not sure what Bergeron thought she was taking.

The actual medicine detected in the three types of pills -- an anti-anxiety drug, acetaminophen and a strong sedative -- are not consistent with those usually ordered online, like antidepressants or Viagra.

I beg to differ. Acetaminophen is prescribed often enough online, along with the pain reliever Tramadol:

Find the best Tramadol Deals Below

Medication	Quantity	Sale Price	Consult Fee
Tramadol / Acetaminophen 37.5/325 mg	30	$80.00	0.00
Tramadol / Acetaminophen 37.5/325 mg	60	$100.00	0.00
Tramadol / Acetaminophen 37.5/325 mg	90	$121.00	0.00

Tramadol has the potential of being addictive. Check out the "warning":

This pain reliever drug has been used by around 55 million people around the world. Only a very small percentage face the problem of addiction. Addiction is not a big enough scare for you to restrain from buyingl. It can be easily avoided if you are careful about Tramadol. our online pharmacy information provider allows you to buy cheap Tramadol. We are the cheapest online source for pain reliever so you will not get to buy Tramadol online at a cheaper price.

Now Tramadol Drugmart is one of "legitimate" online pharmacies, as such things are measured. The overseas ones posing as Canadian pharmacies make themselves known through spam emails:

What's been happening is; overseas internet companies (and possibly some companies from within the USA) have been email marketing their pharmacy products to American citizens... and here's the scam: they are pretending to be Canadian Online Internet Pharmacies, when in fact they are not.

The SCAM WORKS LIKE THIS:

(A) the scam artist sends emails touting his/her online pharmaceuticals.

(B) the email is disguised to make it look like it's originating from a Canadian Web Site.

(C) the scam artist makes it very difficult for the reader to see that the email is not coming from the purported Canadian Web Site.

(D) when the reader clicks on the link to go to the web site... it actually takes them to an overseas web site (so far, most of the one's I've seen point to European web sites).

(E) the scam artist not only makes it very difficult for the reader to see actually where the email is truly originating from... but the scam artist also makes it very difficult for the reader to actually see the true location/ownership of the web site.

That's a quick summary of the main scam you need to be aware of.

So I checked my spam folder, and I found Express Drug Mart at the domain lowpriceofferpill.com, though the link in the email points to the domain bhq.eachyeardue.com, which then redirected me:

We are the best price on all high quality meds.

Established by a reputable Canadian Doctor and Scientist, Express Drugmart's mission is to provide you with a secure online environment to purchase the safest, quality medication.

We are the best price?

And they don't insist on a prescription:

YOU DON'T NEED A PRESCRIPTION

You don't legally require a prescription to purchase and receive medication online

A prescription is only required by the US pharmacies so they can sell you the medication. It is a rule for the pharmacies........not the consumer.

Now here's the weird thing. Why would a Canadian pharmacy operate out of Hong Kong?

Domain Name: LOWPRICEOFFERPILL.COM
Registrar: TODAYNIC.COM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.todaynic.com
Referral URL: http://www.NOW.CN
Name Server: NS1.AHUE.HK
Name Server: NS2.AHUE.HK
Name Server: NS3.AHUE.HK
Name Server: NS4.AHUE.HK
Name Server: NS5.AHUE.HK
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Updated Date: 17-mar-2007
Creation Date: 17-mar-2007
Expiration Date: 17-mar-2008

Check out now.cn if you dare. It is a typical Far East website -- all garish banners and cheesy animations.

I'm not certain that this place is really in Hong Kong -- it could just be hosted there, with the actual drug dispensing operation in Canada. Or maybe not. Who can tell? Obviously Marcia Bergeron couldn't, and it cost her her life.