Not what the doctor ordered! (Garston and Halewood Liberal Democrats)

Garston and Halewood Liberal Democrats <info@garstonld.org.uk>

Not what the doctor ordered!

April 17, 2008 12:00 AM

Cover of the Liberal Democrat General Election 2005 Manifesto on Health Moves by the EU to protect North West residents from counterfeit medicines have been welcomed by a local Euro-MP.

The risks of buying medicines on the internet are well known, but now fake drugs are also finding their way into chemist shops and hospitals.

According to the European Commission, criminals are targeting life-saving and highly profitable medicines used to treat cancer, heart disease, psychiatric disorders and infections. Latest data shows counterfeit medicines penetrating the legal supply chain in 2007.

It is feared that the £10 billion trade could be responsible for half a million deaths worldwide each year. More than 2.7 million counterfeit medicines were seized at EU customs borders in 2006, up almost 400% on 2005.

The fakes are virtually indistinguishable from the genuine tablets and criminal gangs are so sophisticated that they buy the same packaging equipment as drug companies.

Some counterfeit medicines have no active ingredients at all and others have much higher doses than is safe. Counterfeit medicines tested by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have been found to contain traces of brick dust and rat poison.

Britain is a prime target for the counterfeiters as medicine prices are high compared with other EU countries. But most people in the UK are unaware of the scale of the problem. A study last year found that only 19% of Britons felt there was a growing risk from counterfeit medicines compared to three quarters of Europeans as a whole.

The complexity and fractured nature of the distribution system in the EU and regulatory loopholes offer the opportunist means to access Europe's legitimate supply chain.

But now the European Commission has launched an enquiry to look at ways to combat the problem. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso says that criminal sanctions should be applied, with EU member states adopting minimum sentences including fines, confiscation of assets and closure of premises.

North West Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Chris Davies sits on the public health committee in the European Parliament and has welcomed the news of a proposed crackdown on the counterfeiters.

He said: "Counterfeiters selling these drugs are putting people's lives in danger out of sheer greed. The fact they can gain access to legitimate chemists and hospitals is frightening."

Internet security experts believe that nearly 25% of all emails, 15 billion messages a day, are spam advertising drugs. According to the World Health Organisation more than half of all medicines offered by websites are fakes.