Expert: Fake drugs flooding market

www.Independent.ie
By Anne-Marie Walsh
Saturday October 27 2007

The Irish authorities "haven't a clue" about the massive volume of life-threatening medicine flooding the country, an international expert on fake drugs said last night.

Former UK Detective Superintendent, Graham Satchwell, said the public have no idea they could be buying false drugs at their pharmacy.

The security expert said highly sophisticated copies of well known prescription drugs are being sold in practically identical packets -- but with unsafe ingredients. There is a false perception that counterfeit drugs are only being bought over the internet, he added.

Fallacy

He said he "defied" anyone in Irish customs or other agencies to show they have a system to stop counterfeits being imported and warned the public that it was a "dangerous fallacy" to think a thorough check exists.

Speaking in Dublin, he asked whether the Irish Medicines Board monitors and keeps figures regarding the seizures of counterfeit drugs or makes these statistics available to the public on its website.

He questioned whether it had any actions planned to let the public know the full extent of the problem.

The Irish Medicines Board hit back last night and said it is "confident" that no counterfeit products are currently available in the authorised supply chain.

It said it has a dedicated enforcement section, made up of eight full-time officials, continuously monitoring the market for counterfeit medicines.

"No one has a clue and they don't want to have a clue because they don't want to have ownership of it," said Mr Satchwell.

Some of the best known drugs which are commonly copied by illegal traders include:

l Viagra -- Copies of the anti-impotence pill by Pfizer are among the most best-selling fakes.

l Lipitor -- Pfizer's cholesterol-lowering prescription drug is used by patients with multiple risk factors for heart disease, to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

l Xenical -- marketed by Roche or over-the-counter as alli by GlaxoSmithKline, it is used to help obese individuals lose weight.

l Cavinton (vinpocetine) -- made in its genuine form by Gedeon Richter of Hungary, it is a preventive anti-stroke drug..

l Gentamicin -- an antibiotic that is often used by illegal traders as a counterfeit product.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/expert-fake-drugs-flooding-market-1206185.html