http://healthblog.ncpa.org/fake-drugs/ Health Care Policy and Reform Insights | NCPA Wed, 23 May 2012 12:15:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://healthblog.ncpa.org/fake-drugs/comment-page-1/#comment-39212 Devon Herrick Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:05:17 +0000 http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=472#comment-39212 This article is essentially about how easy it is to make a copycat “unauthorized generic” version of a drug still under patent protection. There are some public health advocates who fail to see the harm in this if poor Indians and Africans cannot afford the name brand medication. But I imagine the next logical step for the fraudsters and their dishonest competitors is to dispense without the active ingredient and make a few pennies more per bottle on a totally worthless therapy. This is happening in Africa and Asia with drugs such as anti-malarials. A few years ago, several million counterfeit birth control bills were imported from Spain, which were later found to contain absolutely no active ingredient. This article is essentially about how easy it is to make a copycat “unauthorized generic” version of a drug still under patent protection. There are some public health advocates who fail to see the harm in this if poor Indians and Africans cannot afford the name brand medication. But I imagine the next logical step for the fraudsters and their dishonest competitors is to dispense without the active ingredient and make a few pennies more per bottle on a totally worthless therapy. This is happening in Africa and Asia with drugs such as anti-malarials. A few years ago, several million counterfeit birth control bills were imported from Spain, which were later found to contain absolutely no active ingredient.

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