Pills that kill
Even lifesaving drugs are not exempt from the trade in counterfeit, say experts
According to the World Health Organization about 11 per cent of medicines in developing countries are counterfeit and likely responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of children from diseases like malaria and pneumonia. It’s the first attempt by the UN health agency to assess the problem.
Developing countries are an obvious target for counterfeiters, because the cost of legitimate drugs may be beyond the reach of much of the population and legal controls are often weak, analysts say.
Dr Guru Prasad, Internal medicine Consultant/ physician, Care Hospitals feels, Counterfeit drugs are a big menace. As the doctor administers them with the faith thinking that they will treat the patient and the unsuspecting patient takes it thinking it is going to make him feel better.
“According to statistics approximately 25 percent of medicines are counterfeit in India and the problem is more amplified in the national capital region. Most commonly sold spurious drugs are paracetamol, diclofenac which are used for fever and pain respectively and also some antibiotics. Reason is that there is no standard regulatory body to check standard of drugs on a time to time basis and also the general public is unaware to where they can take a particular drug for testing,” says Dr Guru Prasad.
“So in the end it is the poor patient who suffers and on top of it, it disturbs the delicate thread of faith which the patient holds for the doctor,” Dr Guru Prasad adds.
Asia accounts for the biggest share of the trade in counterfeit medicines, according to the industry-funded organization, the Pharmaceutical Security Institute.
“Purchase of bulk drug and packaging it without purification is rampant As people want cheap substitutes. Drugs are made and packaged in backyards. ‘Why are medicines costly in developed countries?’ because purification process is more expensive, says Dr Sunil Kapoor Dr Sunil Kapoor, Senior Consultant Cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals.
There are no accurate data that accurately measure the scale of this vast, sophisticated and lucrative business. “I do not know what proportion of medicine are of poor quality but it is a well-known fact that some of the medicine available in Indian market are of very poor quality or counterfeit. We have too many pharmaceutical companies in our country and it is obviously a difficulty task for the regulatory authorities to supervise! Many tertiary level hospitals look at the credentials and the necessary certification for quality standards before they accept a drug company into their formulary. This may not true hold for all the hospitals and pharmacies. We need to be very stringent when it comes to the assessment of quality of life saving drugs,” concludes Dr Hari Kishan Boorugu, Consultant Physician, Apollo Hospitals.