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Fake drugs make inroads

PINAKI ROY
Counterfeit versions of a number of life-saving medicines are being made and sold in Bangladesh, putting patients at serious risk.
The fakes are usually of no therapeutic value.
Counterfeiters are cashing in on a demand as patients struggle to pay the high cost of genuine drugs, and get away with their fraud because of poor government supervision of the pharmaceutical industry.
Last November the govern-
ment's drug-testing laboratory at Mahakhali identified fraudulent copies of a drug named Cavinton, used for strokes and brain haemorrhages. The fake Cavinton was found to lack one of the main chemical ingredients of the real drug. Cavinton costs around Tk 300 for 50 tablets compared with Tk 130-Tk 150 for the fakes.
Most fakes are made by dishonest pharmacists, according to industry sources. But some small pharmaceutical companies appear also to be involved.
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"Some are involved in this practice, it is true. We have heard of people doing it in Zinzira (a suburb of Dhaka). They are harming the people and not paying taxes to the government," S M Shafiuzzaman, President of Bangladesh Pharmaceuticals Association, told The Daily Star.
In 2001 the government cancelled licences of 44 small companies for producing counterfeit drugs. It is not however known how many were prosecuted. Twelve others were restricted to producing particular items. But the clampdown has not stopped the practice.
The drug administration occasionally raids Babubazaar, the country's biggest drug market, and seizes illegal products. Sources in Babubaazar said that at least 15 kinds of counterfeit drug brands are available, including counterfeit versions of Perictin, Cavinton, Pathaydin, Kenakta Vayal and Eldakton. Unscrupulous traders also put patients at risk by selling drugs that have crossed their expiry dates. They change or cover up the original expiry date on the packet.
Industry sources say that drugs
worth Tk 700 crore a year are smuggled into the country or produced illegally, out of a total national drug market of Tk 3,000 crore.
The government has only two testing laboratories and 37 drug supervisors for the entire country, which accounts for the poor supervision in the sector.
Officials say they are doing their best. "We are active within our limited manpower to free the market from counterfeit medicines. Whenever we get information we immediately take action", said Dr. Abdul Gani, Director of Drug Administration.
The leaders of the Druggists and Chemists Association disagree. They say the government is not doing enough to control illegal manufacture and trade, and that many officials have been bribed to allow fake drugs onto the market.
"Our people are poor, and most cannot afford the medicine they need. Dishonest producers and traders are cheating them. The government is not taking adequate action," said Md. Sadekur Rahman, President of the Association.