Stiffed

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines counterfeit drugs as those that have been 'deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity or source'. The British Medical Journal and the Lancet have both highlighted the growing threat posed by these fake or counterfeit agents. In a Congressional hearing, representatives of the FDA told members that such medicines may contain cheap and potentially dangerous contaminants and had already been linked to the deaths of a number patients in the US. It was also pointed out that the counterfeit drug trade has become increasingly difficult to combat with supplies, often emanating from countries without regulatory controls, now flooding the market place. In some countries it has been alleged that around 10 - 30% of medicines might actually turn out to be fake. A recent editorial (March 2016) in The British Medical Journal entitled 'Can anyone stop the illegal sale of medicines online?' highlighted that some of the most commonly purchased fake drugs were those for erectile dysfunction and accounted for £11 million of £12.2 million worth of illegal drugs seized from April to December alone. Raymond McNally is a product manager for a major pharmaceutical company. He has recently been promoted to oversee the company's most recent product Erexat - a competitor of viagra - the world's first and most successful male impotence drug. Raymond's hopes are high of a successful and profitable future both professionally and personally. However, when reports of unexplained deaths and other serious side effects start to trickle into the firm's medical department, alarm bells sound and Raymond quickly realises that the new drug's future may be in doubt. Initially, the adverse effects are few and scattered globally, so the press and the national regulatory authorities haven't been alerted, ... yet. Raymond needs to make sure they aren't. As he mounts an investigation, doubts about the authenticity of some of the products purchased, usually through internet sites, start to arise. It appears that many of those effected may have bought a counterfeit product online. Raymond recognises the threat posed, not only to those that take the fake drug, but also to the company he represents and his own personal ambitions. During his investigation he comes into contact with Harry Boyle, a twenty something computer nerd, who accidentally on purpose, hacks into retail sites as a hobby. But Harry's last 'hit' has backfired and now far from being the infiltrator or potential saboteur, it appears that he has become the subject of surveillance and a target of those that control the site. Worse still, he becomes convinced that he himself is being physically stalked. This unusual duo team up and later recruit a Glasgow hard man Michael 'Slab' McBride whose son has been effected by the drug and who initially blames Raymond and his firm. This small group decide upon a series of measures to disrupt the counterfeit trade and those that organise it. Measures which though may actually place their own lives in danger. The team are resolute in their determination to avenge those that have bought the drug for good reasons and in good faith, but have been swindled and in some cases have even paid with their lives. They have been 'Stiffed' in more ways than one.