Floodgates to counterfeit drugs opened
The proliferation of counterfeit drugs on the global market and easy availability via online pharmacies is an increasing problem. The makers of counterfeit drugs have enjoyed and profited from loopholes in a system designed to deliver healthy medicines to those in need. The rising cost of prescription medications and the ubiquitous presence of online and overseas pharmacies means more people than ever are threatened by these counterfeiting operations.
HYDERABAD: The next time somebody dies in a government hospital do not be sure that a disease or bad treatment has killed him. It could well be due to the administration of spurious and unchecked drugs.
Strange that it may seems, the Andhra Pradesh Health, Medical Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (APHMHIDC) has gone ahead and issued purchase orders to pharmaceutical companies, without even verifying their credentials, to supply medicines worth Rs 21 crore to government hospitals.
12 April 2008