A special case of medicine in disguise: Tattoo inks containing anaesthetics.

This paper describes a case of medicine in disguise: seized tattoo inks containing lidocaine and tetracaine at high concentration. Identification of anaesthetics was performed by LC MS Q-TOF with ESI source, by accurate mass measurement and by comparing the fragmentation patterns of molecular ions, at 30 V and 10 V of collision-offset voltage, with reference standards. Quantification was also performed by LC MS Q-TOF on the chromatographic peaks in the extracted ion chromatograms, by calibration curves obtained at different standard concentrations and by standard additions approach.

A Q-TOF LC/MS method for identification and quantitation of Histamine in the antibiotic Gentamicin at ppm level: Validation and uncertainty evaluation.

Adverse reactions have been reported for antibiotics produced via fermentation with fish peptone due to Histamine contamination. Just few micrograms of Histamine can result in adverse reactions when administered intravenously. Thus in this paper a new method for identification and quantitation of Histamine at ppm levels in the antibiotic Gentamicin is described.

Health risks related to illegal and on-line sale of drugs and food supplements: results of a survey on marketed products in Italy from 2011 to 2013.

Objectives: The increasing illegal and on-line market of medicines and food supplements is helping the widespread diffusion of harmful counterfeit and forbidden products among consumers of developed countries. The objectives of this survey were the description of the main frauds recognized by public officers and the detection of illegal or counterfeit drugs and food supplements.

Methods: Medicines and food supplements found by Police forces on the illegal market or resulting from seizures made by Italian Customs authorities were visually inspected and analysed to evaluate their quality and the presence of other undeclared substances.

Characterization of Sildenafil analogs by MS/MS and NMR: a guidance for detection and structure elucidation of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors.

Novel synthetic analogs of Sildenafil are constantly detected as adulterants in counterfeit drugs and dietary supplements. Their intake constitutes a serious health hazard as side effects are unknown. In this paper an investigation is carried out on NMR and MS/MS spectra of Sildenafil, Thiosildenafil, Acetildenafil and thirteen of their analogs: a list of key signals is reported and discussed with the intent to provide a tool that can help in detecting adulteration and in elucidating the structure of novel analogs.

A survey on illegal and counterfeit medicines for the treatment of erectile dysfunctions in Italy.

Introduction: In developed countries the phenomenon of pharmaceutical counterfeiting is steadily increasing through the illegal and the Internet market. Medicines for the treatment of erectile dysfunctions containing phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5) are especially prone to falsification.

Aims: To obtain evidence of the health risks for patients taking these products and to provide useful information to general practitioners and specialists in sexual medicine.

Counterfeit drugs detection by measurement of tablets and secondary packaging colour.

The growth of pharmaceutical counterfeiting is a major public health problem. This growth is resulting in a proportional increase in the number of samples that medicines control laboratories have to test. Thus the need for simple and affordable preliminary screening methods to be used by inspectors to decide in the field whether to collect a sample for further laboratory analysis or not.

Uncertainty evaluation in the chloroquine phosphate potentiometric titration: application of three different approaches.

A measurement result cannot be properly interpreted if not accompanied by its uncertainty. Several methods to estimate uncertainty have been developed. From those methods three in particular were chosen in this work to estimate the uncertainty of the Eu.