Fake drugs, including Tamiflu, thrive on Internet
by LaVonne on 21/02/06 at 10:44 am
GENEVA (Reuters) – Criminals are using the Internet to sell increasing quantities of counterfeit medicines, including fake versions of bird flu drug Tamiflu, a senior U.N. health expert said on Tuesday.
Vitamin and health supplements, so-called “lifestyle medications” like erectile dysfunction drugs, and steroids bought over the Internet were especially likely to be false.
Antibiotics, anti-malarials and pain killers were also susceptible to fraud because of the huge demand, while Tamiflu, made by Swiss firm Roche, had also entered the market amid rising avian flu fears.
“Yes, there have been cases reported in counterfeit Tamiflu,” said Howard Zucker, the World Health Organisation’s assistant director general for health technology and pharmaceuticals.
But he declined to give details on the quantity or where the fake drugs had been found.
The WHO has estimated as many as 10 percent of drugs on the world market are mislabeled or fake, with the phoney medicines sometimes causing illness and even death in consumers.
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