Latest news with #Roche
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- General
- Irish Examiner
Glass walkway turned €495k Roches Point home into a beacon of light
AT one point in the notable communications history of Roches Point, military personnel stood atop the strategically located headland and waved their arms like madmen to send messages to approaching ships. It was before the advent of radio and the arm-waving was quite purposeful. They were spelling out letters of the alphabet via a signaling system known as semaphore, at a time when communications' systems were still quite crude. Arms are a theme at Roches Point. A coat of arms sits above the door of the middle home on one of two landmark rows of houses that lead up to the iconic, 200-year-old lighthouse. The lighthouse at Roches Point It's part of the heraldry of the Roche family, landed gentry of Norman-Irish lineage, who were once significant landowners in the area around Roche's Point. They were ennobled as the Barons Fermoy of Trabolgan, from whom the late princess of Wales, Lady Diana Spencer's maternal grandfather was descended. The Fermoys' stately home was demolished in the 1980s to make way for Trabolgan holiday park. Still standing after more than 200 years are Coastguard Cottages and Lighthouse Terrace, with the latter bearing the Roche family coats of arms above the mid-terrace home. Several properties on Lighthouse Terrace were owned in the 20th century by Michael Roche, descendant of the original family of landowners after whom Roche's Point is named. He was known for his sailing and fishing prowess, despite having just one arm. Rebecca McNeil (nee McGrath), the vendor of No 4, Lighthouse Terrace, the house featured here, says the story he put about was that it had been shot off by the Black and Tans in the 1920s. She has a vague recollection of him showing her father a newspaper clipping about the incident, but isn't entirely sure. Michael Roche died in 1992 and two brothers, the father and uncle of the vendor, bought the end-of-terrace home, which had been a post office and telegraph station in the 1800s. They spilt it in two, so that it's now Nos 4 and 4A Lighthouse Terrace. No 4 Lighthouse Terrace Rebecca's dad had a long attachment to Roche's Point, having holidayed there in his youth. It's where he met his future wife, Claire McGrath, whose mother, Eileen, had rented Mr Roche's house as a holiday home in the 1950s. Born on Clare Island, Eileen was from a lighthouse-keeping family and lived in lighthouse properties all around the Irish coast during her youth. Eileen married a Cork school teacher (Mattie McGrath) and settled in Douglas in Cork City. Her brother, Jim Hegarty, was the principal keeper at Roches Point, and he arranged for the McGraths to rent the old post office from Michael Roche in the early 1950s. 'As Mattie was a teacher, they would spend the entire summer holidays there with their six kids during the '50s and early '60s, and Eileen would continue to spend summers there after Mattie passed away and the children grew up,' their granddaughter, Rebecca, says. The house was 'an absolute wreck' when her father and uncle bought it, but they did enough work to turn the divided property into two perfectly adequate holiday homes. 'My parents had emigrated to London in the '70s and when I was growing up, I loved coming here for the summer. It was so carefree; we'd be gone all day, fishing from the rocks, lighting bonfires on the beach,' Rebecca says. In the late noughties, when her parents were looking at retirement, they undertook major renovations at No 4, aka Dun Rossin, transforming the rough-and-ready holiday home in to a sophisticated coastal bolthole. 'They got an architect to come up with ideas and a local builder to do the renovations and it took about a year and a half,' says Rebecca. Bay windows were installed to give a wide-angled view of the harbour. The layout was changed (a kitchen and courtyard switched positions). Kitchen overlooks a courtyard A new kitchen was fitted. Central heating was installed, a head-to toe makeover was carried out, and the pièce de résistance — a glass walkway — was installed upstairs. 'People walking along the terrace probably think the houses are quite dark, but at No 4, the glass walkway makes a huge difference,' Rebecca says. The interior is impressively crisp now, a bright, light-filled property with amazing harbour views from the bay windows. Light comes in from an internal courtyard, too, accessed from both the kitchen and the living room. Two of four upstairs bedrooms come with en suites. There's a downstairs guest loo and a utility. Outdoors is also smartly presented. The garden, across the narrow road, is tiered and includes paved patio close to the road, and, at a lower level, a large deck area with ringside seats to passing cruise liners as they glide through the nearby mouth of the harbour en route to dock in Cobh. The lower deck at Lighthouse Terrace Cobh, Camden Fort, and Carlisle Fort are all visible from Roches Point. In 1928, the residents of Lighthouse Terrace were witness to the sinking of the White Star Line's RMS Celtic, after it was grounded on the rocks at Roches Point. Every home on the terrace has salvage from the stricken liner, including No 4. You can see the salvaged porthole inside the front door. Adrianna Hegarty, of Hegarty Properties, is selling No 4 and she's expecting strong interest from holiday-home seekers and retirees, including from the UK. She describes the terrace as 'an exclusive coastal setting, steeped in maritime legacy, nestled beside the iconic Roche's Point Lighthouse, and just a short distance from the village of Whitegate'. Picture: David Creedon 'Whether you are drawn by the heritage, the setting or the serenity, this is one of the rarest properties to come to market on the East Cork coast,' the agent says. Her price for the well-insulated (B3 BER), 1400 sq ft home is €495,000. VERDICT: A terrific coastal bolthole that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Inside the Torness nuclear power protests, 50 years later
Yet, the plant, first mooted in the early 1970s by the South of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB), has long been a lightning rod of controversy. Anti-nuclear activists waged a futile battle to prevent the station from being built, with thousands of campaigners famously occupying the site in May 1978. Pete Roche is one of the founders of the Scottish Campaign to Resist the Atomic Menace, or SCRAM, a radical group who fought against the construction of Torness. 'I came to Edinburgh from Birmingham in 1974 to study ecology,' he tells me. 'I started going to Friends of the Earth meetings. That's when I first heard about the plans to build a nuclear power station. 'The public inquiry lasted seven days, and in the wake of that, a group of us decided to form SCRAM in 1975." Police remove a protester from a bulldozer in November 1978. (Image: Newsquest) 'I was supposed to go to the inaugural meeting but ended up in a car crash. Perhaps it was divine intervention…' Roche laughs. 'I'm only partly serious', he quips. 'We decided to camp for a weekend on the site in April 1976 - the campaign was still quite small. Then, we returned to the same field in 1978 and had a much bigger protest. More than 5000 people attended. 'We wrote to every organisation listed in the back of Peace News, slowly building up the anti-nuclear movement in Scotland,' Roche recalls. 'SCRAM had quite a sympathetic hearing in East Lothian. I would routinely cycle out from Edinburgh and help facilitate community meetings in all the small villages.' In 1978, a group of campaigners occupied 'Half Moon Cottage', a 'ramshackle and bleaky exposed' building on the site of the proposed station. Roche tells me: 'I stayed for around two weeks, but others stayed on longer. When the board wanted to start construction, they got harassed by the cottage people so they went down to demolish the cottage and arrested the activists.' Activists vowed to do everything in their power to stop the plant from being built, and would regularly throw themselves in front of bulldozers to prevent construction. A strong police presence stopped 200 Scottish students entering the Torness site. May 1980 (Image: Newsquest/Duncan Dingsdale) A November 1978 report, published in The Scotsman, states: 'The power game took a nasty turn when anti-nuclear protestors packed into pits, threw themselves in between the tracks of huge bulldozers and scrambled into mechanical shovels at Torness.' Roche looks back on those heady days with fondness. He remarks: 'We had a very active phone tree at the time. I remember we got 400 people there to block JCBs from digging sewage pipes. 'They started work at four in the morning but we were there to stop them.' A 1983 pamphlet entitled 'From Folly to Fiasco' illustrates the strength of feeling among campaigners. One excerpt reads: 'Controversy surrounds the Torness nuclear power station being built, just 30 miles from Edinburgh. Scene of numerous direct actions, Torness is a monumental example of corporate obstinacy. 'At every stage, independent voices have spoken out against the reactor on the grounds of excessive cost, surplus generating capacity, job losses in the coal mining industry, and the unsolved problem of radioactive wastes. 'Conventional protest, sound argument, and majority public opinion have, so far, proved fruitless.' Read more from Josh Pizzuto-Pomaco: 8,000 jobs boost in Peterhead after £1bn energy transition investment Edinburgh University staff to strike today as 1800 job losses threatened Glasgow 'tourist tax' approved as visitors face 5% tariff from 2027 Dr Ewan Gibbs, who lectures on energy politics at Glasgow University, says the protests were a 'significant moment' in Scottish energy history. He tells me: 'At the time, the prevailing distinction between nuclear weapons and nuclear energy was being challenged. There was a growing environmental movement against the nuclear industry throughout the 1970s. 'The SNP were anti-nuclear power while Labour and the trade union movement was divided. They were able to draw on a cohort of young people, mainly university graduates, who had increasing suspicion about nuclear power.' 'Their opposition was partly apocalyptic but also more practical, as fears over the impacts of nuclear waste and radiation grew. 'Of course, it's interesting to see how much the environmental movement has changed since Torness. Right now, it is driven by carbon. But this was not always the case. In the 1970s, coal miners and anti-nuclear campaigners were allies.' Demonstration at Torness. May 1980. (Image: Newsquest/Duncan Dingsdale) Gibbs argues that the relationship between Scottish nationalism and nuclear energy 'flows through Torness'. He notes: 'Torness shapes the energy policy of modern Scotland. We've had a nuclear moratorium for years now, which is very much seen as an SNP policy, but was actually shaped by Jack McConnell's Labour government.' Asked why he joined SCRAM, Roche, who would go on to work for Greenpeace, says: 'My reasons have probably changed over the years. I was motivated by fears of radiation at first, but then I started to engage with all these groups and I began to realise how autocratic the nuclear process was. It wasn't the sort of government I wanted.' Ultimately, the campaign could be dismissed as a Quixotic remnant of a bygone era. Activists didn't stop the bulldozers. Torness was built, and still stands today. Since 1988, the plant has produced 290 TWh of zero carbon electricity. Station owners EDF Energy proudly state this is enough energy to power every home in Scotland for 29 years, and that the use of the plant has avoided 101m tonnes of carbon emissions. Torness rises over the East Lothian coast. (Image: EDF) Yet, the 'Torness Alliance' casts a shadow of radicalism which remains relevant today, as Just Stop Oil and pro Palestine activists block roads, throw paint, and march in the streets. SCRAM will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding this autumn, at an event in Edinburgh. I'm told an archival film will be shown. Greying activists in the twilight of life will come together to remember a time when the world seemed on the brink of collapse, and all that stood between nuclear armageddon was a group of radicals camping in a field near Dunbar. Indeed, the legacy of these men and women will live on, long after the reactors of Torness power down for the last time.
Business Wire
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Presidio, Syngenta, Infosys, NTT Data and AWS Among Those Honored with LogicMonitor Elevate Awards for Excellence in AI-Driven Observability and Data Center Transformation
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- LogicMonitor, the leading SaaS-based platform for AI-powered data center transformation, today announced the winners of its 2025 Elevate Awards at the Elevate Community Conference in London. The Elevate Awards recognize LogicMonitor customers and partners that are driving innovation, achieving transformative outcomes, and leading the industry through the strategic use of AI-powered observability in the modern data center. 'With AI fundamentally reshaping how organizations monitor, manage, and optimize IT operations, our Elevate Award winners demonstrate what's possible when innovation meets execution,' said Christina Kosmowski, CEO of LogicMonitor. 'These standout customers and partners exemplify our shared mission to reimagine IT operations with the power of AI. This year's winners are at the forefront of data center transformation, and show the incredible outcomes that can be achieved when teams are empowered with real-time data and AI-driven insights.' Uniting Community Around AI-Powered Observability and Data Center Modernization The 2025 Elevate Conference in London wrapped a series of community events bringing together LogicMonitor customers, partners, and industry leaders from around the globe for a day of thought leadership, technical deep dives, and strategic insight. The event marked a major milestone in LogicMonitor's global community-building efforts, showcasing the company's bold vision for AI-powered observability and data center modernization. 2025 Elevate Award Winners Customer Award Winners: Agentic AIOps Trailblazer: Syngenta Group Syngenta has emerged as a driving force behind the evolution of Edwin AI, consistently pushing the boundaries of what's possible with LogicMonitor's AI capabilities to deliver smarter, faster operational outcomes. Business Outcome of the Year: Pacific Dental Services, AMER Pacific Dental Services enabled real-time disaster response across 1,000+ dental practices during Hurricane Milton in 2024 with LogicMonitor, transforming manual recovery operations into a centralized, automated process that preserved continuous patient care. Hybrid Observability Excellence Award: TELUS Digital, AMER TELUS Digital streamlined its hybrid observability strategy with LogicMonitor, reducing alert noise, cutting MTTR, and unifying monitoring tools for enhanced performance and substantial cost savings. Roche, EMEA Roche has strategically engineered its observability and IT operations ecosystem to deliver maximum value, flexibility, and ease of use across the enterprise. By automating integrations across its observability stack, Roche enables teams to deploy and manage monitoring at scale–quickly, consistently, and with minimal friction. This results in faster triage, smarter resolution, and always-on visibility where it matters most. Community Engagement – Individual Awards: Mike Moniz (Continental Resources) has been a consistent and positive presence in the LogicMonitor Community, providing frequent expert support. Stu Reid (Deutsche Telekom) has created an immersive virtual showcase of LogicMonitor's value journey, exemplifying proactive community advocacy. Steve Smith (SCC) has been instrumental in the evolution of core platform features - from LM Inspector to Edwin AI - providing practical feedback and offering up his team to accelerate delivery and innovation. MSP Excellence Awards: Presidio (Americas) and Devoteam (EMEA) Presidio achieved a 93% reduction in major incidents during its Edwin AI proof of value phase, delivering scalable, AI-enhanced observability to large enterprise clients and embedding LogicMonitor at the core of its MSP strategy. Devoteam became the first Edwin AI customer to go live in EMEA and has been instrumental in supporting regional growth through strategic collaboration with LogicMonitor. Partner Award Winners: Global Service & Practice Innovation Award: Infosys Infosys, a leading Global Systems Integrator and long-standing LogicMonitor partner, has been recognized for building a significant observability practice around LogicMonitor's platform through its AIOps Insights service offerings. Since the inception of the partnership in 2020, Infosys and LogicMonitor have welcomed many Fortune 500 organizations in the US, EMEA, and APAC as observability customers. By integrating LogicMonitor's agentic AI product, Edwin AI, into its AIOps Insights service offerings, Infosys has driven both customer value and business growth, actively engaging in co-led initiatives such as adoption workshops, business value realization tracking, and health checks. Their frequent participation in technical training, roadmap reviews, and best practices ensures world-class delivery and alignment with LogicMonitor's innovation trajectory. Global Hyperscale Partnership Excellence Award: AWS AWS has been recognized for its outstanding commitment to collaborative innovation and digital transformation enablement with LogicMonitor. The partnership accelerated rapidly in 2024, highlighted by the launch of LogicMonitor's first AI monitoring solution for Amazon Bedrock and collaborative support for cloud migration initiatives. LogicMonitor was the first observability partner selected by AWS to support VMware migrations, signaling the strength and future potential of this strategic global alliance. A foundational platform partner, AWS powers product hosting, provides significant sales and go-to-market support and partner funding, as well as streamlined customer access via AWS Marketplace. Global Strategic Partner Award: NTT Data NTT Data has been recognized for leading a global observability practice that delivers clear results for enterprises. As a key LogicMonitor partner with 600 managed service customers across all platforms, NTT Data has integrated LM Envision into its core services to speed up cloud modernization, simplify operations, and support AI-driven service delivery. Over the past year, NTT Data has led in multi-entity deployments, cross-region migrations, and joint solutions using LogicMonitor tools. Strong collaboration across leadership, sales, and delivery teams highlights the success of this modern GSI partnership. Regional Partner of the Year – Americas: CDW CDW, a leading multi-brand provider of information technology solutions, has been recognized for its exceptional business results and strategic execution. A partner since 2020, CDW has helped LogicMonitor welcome hundreds of new customers across the U.S., establishing itself as a force in observability. Tapping LogicMonitor to solve complex monitoring challenges, particularly in its healthcare vertical, has driven significant growth for CDW. In 2024, CDW launched its own LogicMonitor services delivery practice, offering customers support from pre-sales through deployment, demonstrating its commitment to integrated solutions and long-term success with LogicMonitor. Regional Partner of the Year – EMEA: Softcat Softcat, a prominent UK IT infrastructure provider, has been recognized for its significant contributions to regional growth as well as its leadership in innovation. This year, with LogicMonitor embedded in its observability practice, Softcat has continued to drive growth with new and existing customers and has deepened its collaboration with LogicMonitor through its networking and connectivity teams. About LogicMonitor LogicMonitor® offers AI-powered data center transformation. The company's SaaS-based platform, LM Envision, enables observability across on-prem and multi-cloud environments. A Visionary on the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Observability, LogicMonitor provides IT and business teams operational visibility and predictability across their technologies and applications to focus less on troubleshooting and more on delivering extraordinary employee and customer experiences. For more information, visit and our blog, or follow us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and YouTube.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Presidio, Syngenta, Infosys, NTT Data and AWS Among Those Honored with LogicMonitor Elevate Awards for Excellence in AI-Driven Observability and Data Center Transformation
Visionary Customers and Partners Recognized for Driving Operational Excellence and Transformation in the Data Center with LogicMonitor's AI-Powered Hybrid Observability Platform LONDON, June 25, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LogicMonitor, the leading SaaS-based platform for AI-powered data center transformation, today announced the winners of its 2025 Elevate Awards at the Elevate Community Conference in London. The Elevate Awards recognize LogicMonitor customers and partners that are driving innovation, achieving transformative outcomes, and leading the industry through the strategic use of AI-powered observability in the modern data center. "With AI fundamentally reshaping how organizations monitor, manage, and optimize IT operations, our Elevate Award winners demonstrate what's possible when innovation meets execution," said Christina Kosmowski, CEO of LogicMonitor. "These standout customers and partners exemplify our shared mission to reimagine IT operations with the power of AI. This year's winners are at the forefront of data center transformation, and show the incredible outcomes that can be achieved when teams are empowered with real-time data and AI-driven insights." Uniting Community Around AI-Powered Observability and Data Center Modernization The 2025 Elevate Conference in London wrapped a series of community events bringing together LogicMonitor customers, partners, and industry leaders from around the globe for a day of thought leadership, technical deep dives, and strategic insight. The event marked a major milestone in LogicMonitor's global community-building efforts, showcasing the company's bold vision for AI-powered observability and data center modernization. 2025 Elevate Award Winners Customer Award Winners: Agentic AIOps Trailblazer: Syngenta GroupSyngenta has emerged as a driving force behind the evolution of Edwin AI, consistently pushing the boundaries of what's possible with LogicMonitor's AI capabilities to deliver smarter, faster operational outcomes. Business Outcome of the Year: Pacific Dental Services, AMERPacific Dental Services enabled real-time disaster response across 1,000+ dental practices during Hurricane Milton in 2024 with LogicMonitor, transforming manual recovery operations into a centralized, automated process that preserved continuous patient care. Hybrid Observability Excellence Award: TELUS Digital, AMERTELUS Digital streamlined its hybrid observability strategy with LogicMonitor, reducing alert noise, cutting MTTR, and unifying monitoring tools for enhanced performance and substantial cost EMEA Roche has strategically engineered its observability and IT operations ecosystem to deliver maximum value, flexibility, and ease of use across the enterprise. By automating integrations across its observability stack, Roche enables teams to deploy and manage monitoring at scale–quickly, consistently, and with minimal friction. This results in faster triage, smarter resolution, and always-on visibility where it matters most. Community Engagement – Individual Awards: Mike Moniz (Continental Resources) has been a consistent and positive presence in the LogicMonitor Community, providing frequent expert support. Stu Reid (Deutsche Telekom) has created an immersive virtual showcase of LogicMonitor's value journey, exemplifying proactive community advocacy. Steve Smith (SCC) has been instrumental in the evolution of core platform features - from LM Inspector to Edwin AI - providing practical feedback and offering up his team to accelerate delivery and innovation. MSP Excellence Awards: Presidio (Americas) and Devoteam (EMEA) Presidio achieved a 93% reduction in major incidents during its Edwin AI proof of value phase, delivering scalable, AI-enhanced observability to large enterprise clients and embedding LogicMonitor at the core of its MSP strategy. Devoteam became the first Edwin AI customer to go live in EMEA and has been instrumental in supporting regional growth through strategic collaboration with LogicMonitor. Partner Award Winners: Global Service & Practice Innovation Award: Infosys Infosys, a leading Global Systems Integrator and long-standing LogicMonitor partner, has been recognized for building a significant observability practice around LogicMonitor's platform through its AIOps Insights service offerings. Since the inception of the partnership in 2020, Infosys and LogicMonitor have welcomed many Fortune 500 organizations in the US, EMEA, and APAC as observability customers. By integrating LogicMonitor's agentic AI product, Edwin AI, into its AIOps Insights service offerings, Infosys has driven both customer value and business growth, actively engaging in co-led initiatives such as adoption workshops, business value realization tracking, and health checks. Their frequent participation in technical training, roadmap reviews, and best practices ensures world-class delivery and alignment with LogicMonitor's innovation trajectory. Global Hyperscale Partnership Excellence Award: AWS AWS has been recognized for its outstanding commitment to collaborative innovation and digital transformation enablement with LogicMonitor. The partnership accelerated rapidly in 2024, highlighted by the launch of LogicMonitor's first AI monitoring solution for Amazon Bedrock and collaborative support for cloud migration initiatives. LogicMonitor was the first observability partner selected by AWS to support VMware migrations, signaling the strength and future potential of this strategic global alliance. A foundational platform partner, AWS powers product hosting, provides significant sales and go-to-market support and partner funding, as well as streamlined customer access via AWS Marketplace. Global Strategic Partner Award: NTT Data NTT Data has been recognized for leading a global observability practice that delivers clear results for enterprises. As a key LogicMonitor partner with 600 managed service customers across all platforms, NTT Data has integrated LM Envision into its core services to speed up cloud modernization, simplify operations, and support AI-driven service delivery. Over the past year, NTT Data has led in multi-entity deployments, cross-region migrations, and joint solutions using LogicMonitor tools. Strong collaboration across leadership, sales, and delivery teams highlights the success of this modern GSI partnership. Regional Partner of the Year – Americas: CDW CDW, a leading multi-brand provider of information technology solutions, has been recognized for its exceptional business results and strategic execution. A partner since 2020, CDW has helped LogicMonitor welcome hundreds of new customers across the U.S., establishing itself as a force in observability. Tapping LogicMonitor to solve complex monitoring challenges, particularly in its healthcare vertical, has driven significant growth for CDW. In 2024, CDW launched its own LogicMonitor services delivery practice, offering customers support from pre-sales through deployment, demonstrating its commitment to integrated solutions and long-term success with LogicMonitor. Regional Partner of the Year – EMEA: Softcat Softcat, a prominent UK IT infrastructure provider, has been recognized for its significant contributions to regional growth as well as its leadership in innovation. This year, with LogicMonitor embedded in its observability practice, Softcat has continued to drive growth with new and existing customers and has deepened its collaboration with LogicMonitor through its networking and connectivity teams. About LogicMonitor LogicMonitor® offers AI-powered data center transformation. The company's SaaS-based platform, LM Envision, enables observability across on-prem and multi-cloud environments. A Visionary on the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Observability, LogicMonitor provides IT and business teams operational visibility and predictability across their technologies and applications to focus less on troubleshooting and more on delivering extraordinary employee and customer experiences. For more information, visit and our blog, or follow us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and YouTube. View source version on Contacts Press contact Richard Brewer-HayLogicMonitorpress@ Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Health
- Perth Now
The fake drugs flooding into Australia
Counterfeit drugs, including cosmetic injectables, weight-loss drugs, and ivermectin tablets, have been seized at Australia's borders, prompting a fresh round of safety alerts from the Therapeutic Goods Administration. The alerts follow the TGA detecting attempted imports of the counterfeit pharmaceuticals and instructing the Australian Border Force to seize and destroy any intercepted products. The seized products were packaged in professional-looking branding designed to mimic legitimate medications. Testing confirmed many of them contained incorrect doses of active ingredients. Among the haul were 'substandard' Fitaro-branded semaglutide syringes, an in-demand diabetes drug also used for weight loss that is experiencing a global shortage. Substandard Fitaro semaglutide pre-filled syringes have been stopped at the Australian border. TGA Credit: Supplied 'We have conducted testing on several Fitaro-branded pre-filled syringes labelled as containing semaglutide,' the TGA alert said. 'Laboratory analysis found the following dosage strengths contain less than the stated amount of the active pharmaceutical ingredient semaglutide.' The TGA has declared the syringes counterfeit and warned they may pose serious health risks. Also seized were counterfeit versions of Laroscorbine Platinum, a cosmetic injectable claiming to contain vitamin C and collagen. The products were labelled as if manufactured by Roche, a company that discontinued Laroscorbine production two decades ago. Roche ceased Laroscorbine production two decades ago. TGA Credit: Supplied 'While these products appear genuine, Roche has confirmed they no longer manufacture Laroscorbine, and this, along with any product identified as Roche branded Laroscorbine is not genuine,' the TGA said. The agency warned these fakes 'to the untrained eye, may appear legitimate, highlighting the need to purchase your medicines from legitimate sources using the lawful supply chain'. Packaging for the Laroscorbine counterfeit shows a 'Beware of Counterfeit' label. The border crackdown also uncovered new batches of counterfeit ivermectin, a drug that gained notoriety during the Covid-19 pandemic despite being widely discredited as a treatment for the virus. Products labelled Iverjohn-12 and Ivervid-12 have been flagged in alerts since 2021. 'We have tested a further two imported, unregistered ivermectin products and found they are counterfeit under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989,' the TGA said. 'As with the previous warnings issued, these products were purchased online from an overseas website and were not bought from an Australian pharmacy.' Imports of counterfeit ivermectin have been ongoing since they were first detected in 2021. Picture TGA Credit: Supplied The TGA is urging all consumers to immediately stop using these products and take any remaining doses to a local pharmacy for safe disposal. Anyone concerned about side effects should consult a doctor. The TGA is warning consumers to be extremely cautious when purchasing medicines online, noting that products bought from overseas websites may be counterfeit, contain hidden or harmful ingredients, and often fail to meet Australian standards for safety, quality, and effectiveness. Counterfeit drugs cannot be imported under the Personal Importation Scheme, and knowingly importing or distributing them is illegal.
