eBay will pay $59 million to settle DOJ suit involving over pill press machine sales

eBay e-commerce platform from the Department of Justice that he helped sell pill presses, which are used to make legitimate and counterfeit prescription drugs. The platform has sold thousands of these presses, as well as other products for creating pills, such as molds, stamps, dies and encapsulation machines. For the uninitiated, encapsulating machines are used to fill drug capsules.

Pill presses are used by legitimate pharmaceutical companies to make medications, but they are also an indispensable tool for making counterfeit pills. Criminals use these machines to make fake medications that look like real prescription pills, usually sold on the street or via the dark web. When combined with molds, stamps and dies, these fake pills will look exactly like the real McCoys, right down to the logos and letters on each side. Additionally, these presses can prepare thousands of pills per hour.

The problem here is that companies that facilitate the sale of pill presses and related equipment are required to verify the identity of buyers and send records to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to ensure that the machines can be traced if they are used illegally. It appears that eBay has failed in its duties, which constitutes a violation of the Controlled Substances Act.

“Through its website, eBay has made it easy for individuals across the country to obtain the type of dangerous machinery that is often used to manufacture counterfeit pills,” said U.S. Attorney Nikolas Kerest.

eBay's failure to comply with “basic reporting and recordkeeping requirements” allowed people to “create pill mills in their homes and do so undetected,” added U.S. Attorney Henry Leventis .

Beyond the high payout, eBay has agreed to comply with upcoming regulations, so information regarding each pill press sold, as well as accessories, will be sent to the DEA for reading. Additionally, according to the DOJ, many people who purchased the machines on eBay have been indicted in cases involving illegal trafficking of counterfeit pills.

This is a big problem because these counterfeit pills are often filled with all kinds of junk, including fentanyl. The synthetic opioid is largely responsible for the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history, with nearly in 2022 alone. This drug is responsible for more than two-thirds of overdose deaths in the United States. You won't fall into a coma by touching it, but you should still stay far, far away from all that.

As for eBay, this isn't the first time the company has had to pay money to the DOJ. She recently had to pay $3 million for involving the transport of live animals. The DOJ is also suing eBay for allowing the which circumvent vehicle emissions controls.

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