The ‘King of Viagra’ Is Jailed For Fraud
Make a commentBy Ed Silverman // October 15th, 2008 // 8:12 am
A doctor has been jailed for three years for his role in a multi-million pound plot to sell fake versions of the little blue impotence pill, the BBC reports.
George Patino, who sold thousands of counterfeit impotence tablets to customers over the Internet, pleaded guilty at Kingston Crown Court and was described a “disgrace to his profession” by the judge. The 48-year-old Mexican national, who has a US passport, was also ordered to pay costs and had money confiscated. He attracted as many as 200 orders every day, the Beeb notes.
Last year, he had stood trial alongside other members of a gang who were convicted of smuggling copies of Viagra and medicines to treat baldness from illegal factories in China, Pakistan and Asia. When customers received the fake meds they arrived in brown bottles rather than in the packaging used by Pfizer.
E-mails from disgruntled customers complaining the tablets were fake were read to the court, with some people saying they had suffered headaches and nausea, according to the Beeb. Others complained they had no effect while another said the tablets were coated in blue paint which was coming off.
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Counterfeit Medications, Counterfeit Meds, George Patino, Pfizer, Viagra