Fake Drug Factory Seized

Bangladesh’s BDNews24 is reporting that several fake counterfeit drug factories have been raided and closed this week by authorities.

According to the December 7th report in BDNews24:

• The Rapid Action Battalion has sealed a fake drug factory and arrested three people in a special drive at Babubazar Bhuiyan Medicine Market in the capital.

• Magistrate A B M Anwar Pasha told bdnews24.com that they seized fake drugs worth Tk 500,000 conducting the special raid at Lakkhi Drug House and Joy Corporation of Bhuiyan Medicine Market on Tuesday and arrested three in this connection.

• Pasha alleged that the arrestees used to manufacture fake drugs rapping covers [packaging labels] of different well-known drug companies and release those in the markets.

• The RAB on Monday also sealed a fake drug factory at Nagarzanj of Keraniganj Upazila in Dhaka.

With its proximity to China and India and its stifling poverty, Bangladesh’s population is significantly impacted by the proliferation of counterfeit medications within its pharmaceutical supply chain.

It is encouraging that authorities are taking proactive action against the criminal elements that are attempting to insert their fakes into the legitimate supply. It is especially important to interdict the point of production to keep these lethal fakes from impacting the health and well being of millions. Apparently these were organizations posing as legitimate businesses that were selling their fakes into traditional medication markets.

To read the entire news story, visit: http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=180957&cid=2

To learn more about anti-counterfeiting technologies, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/

Securing Pharma: Bangladesh Carrying Heavy Counterfeit Medicine Burden

Business Monitor International estimates that spurious medicines account for around $150m of Bangladesh's total prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical market of around $1.16bn.

Securing Pharma in a September 23rd post, details a recently published report, entitled Bangladesh Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q4 2010 compiled by Business Monitor International.

According to the Securing Pharma story:

• Testing of 5,000 medicine samples this year by the government of Bangladesh revealed that 300 or 6 per cent were either counterfeit or of substandard quality, according to Business Monitor International.

• The country's Public Health and Drug Testing Laboratory found that many of the fake or low-quality products were antibiotics and other potentially life-saving medicines and therefore pose a risk to public health.

• The market research firm estimates that spurious medicines account for around $150m of Bangladesh's total prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical market of around $1.16bn.

• The main channels for distribution of the substandard and counterfeit drugs seems to be the country's huge network of unlicensed pharmacies - which could number as many as 80,000 according to some estimates.

• "It is thought that these counterfeit products are produced in numerous drug factories situated along the Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, Chinese and Thailand borders," comments BMI in the report.

This criminal act now effectively impacts and entire country’s health and well being especially when many of the bogus drugs go beyond the traditional life style drugs and instead are basic antibiotics and life saving medications.

In Bangladesh counterfeit medications are now a deadly part of the legitimate pharmaceutical supply chain.

The issue of adulterated, fraudulent and counterfeit drugs has transcended from individual criminal acts to a well organized industry that sells disease and death.

All members of the global pharmaceutical supply chain must protect their inventories and consumers from these bogus fakes by deploying anti-counterfeiting technologies and solutions.

To read the entire Securing Pharma story, visit: http://www.securingpharma.com/40/articles/588.php.

To learn more about pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting technologies, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.

Bangladesh: Tainted pain reliever kills 25 children

An Industrial solvent was added to a popular over-the-counter pain reliever rendering it toxic. It is estimate that the tainted paracetamol syrup is responsible for killing over 25 children in Bangladesh. Tests revealed that diethylene glycol was substituted for propylene glycol in the formula.

Diethylene glycol is often used as a solvent for dyes and resins. It is also used as a coolant, a substance found in antifreeze. Diethylene glycol is often illegally used as counterfeit glycerin in some nations and sold internationally as a component of cough syrup, toothpaste, and mouthwash because it is less expense than the legitimate ingredient. However, because it is toxic, this often leads to disastrous results.

In Bangladesh, twenty-five children age 1 to 5 have died in the past six weeks. According to authorities, the tainted medicine killed most if not all of the children. Most of the deaths have been reported in the district of Comilla, where the factory is. The plant has since been shut down.

Last year in the United States, two New Yorkers, Saifoulaye Diallo and Habib Bah, pleaded guilty to importing counterfeit Colgate toothpaste tainted with Diethylene glycol. In their testimony they admitted to buying the Chinese toothpaste and repacking it to look like the Colgate brand, but were unaware that the toothpaste itself was toxic. The packaging of the counterfeit toothpaste was mostly indistinguishable from real Colgate, although the wording did contain some spelling and grammatical errors. Additionally, the toothpaste was identified as being made in South Africa, in an effort to avoid scrutiny from customs officials.

These individuals and various additional importers of the tainted Chinese toothpaste sold under different brands popular at dollar stores and state institutions (such as prisons). The imports accounted for over a million tubes of counterfeit toothpaste distributed in the U.S. throughout several states between 2007 – 2008.

This along with other recent examples of substandard medications, emphasize the need to have molecular pharmaceutical authentication along the supply chain route to protect consumer sagainst toxic substitutions. To view more on molecular authentication, visit www.xstreamsystems.net.