The last time I checked, “terrorism” was defined, more or less, as the unlawful use of violence to achieve a political objective. So it is silly to describe drug counterfeiting as “international health care terrorism” (see “Flipping the Bird,” below).

Counterfeiting is a crime, certainly, but a crime most likely motivated by economics and not politics. For this reason, it is also important to distinguish between the deliberate sale of substandard product and inadvertent contamination or production problems. The former will never be amenable to inspections and standards. The latter may be.

Yesterday, the FDA issued a press release about the recall of two lots of antibiotic:

[The company] Medicis today announced that it is voluntarily recalling two lots of the antibiotic SOLODYN® (minocycline HCl, USP) Extended Release Tablets. Medicis has received a report that one bottle contains AZASAN® (azathioprine tablets) instead of SOLODYN® … AZASAN® is an immuno-suppressive agent used in transplant patients to prevent kidney rejection and for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Whether this happened in China or in a US plant, it just ain’t terrorism. It isn’t counterfeiting either.  Let’s maintain the useful distinction.