The Fight Against Fake Drugs - Special Report
By Andrewly A. Agaton, Alphonsus Luigi E. Alfonso and Arian Anderson R. Rabino
After melamine-laced milk and lead-contaminated toys that left consumers paranoid last year, another health danger is coming—in the form of drugs that either do not help people get well or are toxic.
In 2008, the Department of Health (DOH) reported that one in every 10 medicines available in the market is counterfeit.
Republic Act (RA) No. 9502, otherwise known as “Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008,” and RA No. 8203 or the “Special Law on Counterfeit Drugs,” classify drugs as chemical compounds or biological substances intended for use in treatment, prevention or diagnosis of diseases in man or animals.
RA 8203, meanwhile, defines counterfeit drugs as any product with the wrong or no active ingredients, which result in the reduction of the drug’s safety, efficacy, quality, strength, or purity.
According to Nemia Getes, officer-in-charge of the Regulation Division 1 of the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD), counterfeit drugs, which can either be “fake” or “unregistered,” are illegal and hazardous.
“Unregistered drugs are products without the trademark, identification mark, or name which is registered for use in this country. These are unlawful, imported drug products,” she told the Varsitarian. “Fake drugs contain no amount, or have a different active ingredient, or possess less than 80 percent of what the drug claims as part of its ingredients.”
These products are deliberately mislabeled with respect to the name and source, with fake packaging. They can claim to be either branded or generic products, Getes added.
Dr. Benjamin Co, executive director of the UST Center for Drug Research, Evaluation and Studies (Cedres), said expensive medicines are commonly faked.
“A cheap drug is rarely faked because everybody can afford it. So, most of the over-the-counter drugs are not faked. Expensive medications which cost 3,000 pesos to 4,000 pesos per vial are the usual drugs replicated and sold as fake,” Co said.
UST Cedres conducts drug researches, such as bioavailability, which determine whether chemicals are absorbed by the human body; and bioequivalence, the process of comparing the effects of drugs. It also conducts clinical research and monograph testing for the academe, pharmaceutical industry, and private and public agencies to ensure the safety and effectiveness of drugs.
Fake drugs kill
Co, former member of the National Adverse Drug Reaction Advisory Committee, said the proliferation of fake and unregistered drugs is a serious problem, and the lack of access to medicines as well as poverty are partly to blame.
Read the rest of this article on what The Philippines are doing to fight fake drugs.
