eBay to pay $59m settlement over gross sales of pill-making instruments

eBay has agreed to pay $59m (£46.3m) over claims it offered tools that may manufacture unlawful medicine.

The US justice division had alleged that 1000’s of capsule presses and encapsulating machines have been offered on the positioning, together with to individuals who have been later convicted of drug-related crimes.

The tools can be utilized to make counterfeit capsules, together with these laced with fentanyl.

It comes as many states within the US are battling opioid crises.

“Counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl are a significant contributor to the deadly overdose epidemic,” stated Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, warning that the division “is committed to using all available enforcement measures” to make sure firms promoting pill-making tools comply with the regulation.

Specifically, the e-commerce large didn’t adjust to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which requires firms to maintain strict information and report them to the Drug Enforcement Administration, federal prosecutors alleged.

The division says capsule presses offered on the positioning are able to producing 1000’s of capsules per hour. Encapsulating machines, which pack powder into capsule capsules, have been additionally offered.

eBay has denied the allegations, saying it settled the case to keep away from litigation prices, however pledged to take extra actions to adjust to the CSA as a part of the settlement.

“Maintaining a safe and trusted marketplace for our global community of sellers and buyers is a fundamental principle of our business,” the corporate stated in an announcement.

In its investigation, the US authorities discovered that lots of of consumers who bought capsule presses additionally purchased counterfeit moulds, stamps, or dyes to make counterfeit pharmaceutical capsules.

Drug overdoses killed greater than 110,000 folks within the US in 2022, in keeping with the US Centers for Disease Control. Over two-thirds of these deaths have been from the highly effective painkiller fentanyl and different artificial opioids,

The metropolis of Portland on Tuesday declared a state of emergency for the rampant fentanyl use that has overtaken Oregon’s largest metropolis.