Zambia: State Acts to Curb Counterfeit Drugs

THE Government has launched a medical drugs task force aimed at checking the proliferation of counterfeit drugs in order to safeguard people's health. Health Permanent Secretary, Simon Miti has also challenged the Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority (PRA), Police Service and the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) to make use of the new task force and ensure that…

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Men warned over counterfeit drugs

Dr David Gillen, medical director for the drug company Pfizer, warned men were more likely to "bypass" the NHS in order to obtain treatments anonymously. A survey by Pfizer of 900 men over 35 found one in 10 had bought prescription medicines without authorisation. The UK's medical regulator said buying medicines online was not illegal,…

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U.S. marshals seize tainted blood thinner in Ohio

Federal authorities said Thursday they have seized some of an Ohio company's supplies of contaminated blood thinner containing material from China. U.S. marshals, acting at the request of the Food and Drug Administration, seized 11 lots of heparin from Celsus Laboratories Inc. of Cincinnati, the agency said in a news release. 6 November 2008 Read…

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Kenya Fights Counterfeit Drugs

Bryan A. Liang, MD, PhD, JD

Counterfeit drugs are a scourge that spans continents and patients everywhere.  Sadly however, some of the most vulnerable countries such as Kenya have been deeply impacted by the problem.  The World Health Organization reports that a survey performed by the National Quality Control Laboratories and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board found that almost 30 percent of drugs in Kenya are counterfeit, harming thousands of patients and representing a tremendous public health problem.  In addition, a 2006 estimate indicates that counterfeit drug sales account for approximately $130 million annually in sales.  Importantly, these fakes are believed to contribute to at least 200,000 of the 2.7 million deaths caused by malaria each year in Africa.

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Millions at risk from fake medicines smuggled into UK

Packets of fake pills are being smuggled into high-street chemists and sold as real medicines that prevent heart attacks or fight cancer, putting the lives of millions of British patients at risk. Criminal gangs that cut their teeth selling fake Viagra on the internet and went on to push dummy drugs in poor countries are…

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Liang BA.* Pigs, Drugs, and Terrorists. Patient Safe Qual Healthcare. 2008 Nov 1:10-12

Abstract. Making drugs is messy. Take heparin.You raise pigs and then slaughter them. You isolate the pig intestines and cook them. Then you scrape the intestinal insides, dry them, and get them to a factory to undergo more processing (Harris, 2008). Making drugs is also expensive. Outsourcing this messy activity to countries such as China…

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6 men die from consuming illegal sex drugs in the last 5 months

SINGAPORE: Illegal sex drugs have claimed the lives of another six Singaporean men, bringing the death toll to 10 this year. The oldest victim is an 84-year-old man. The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said the latest fatalities reinforce the serious health hazards brought about by consuming these products. 31 October 2008 Read the full story…

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