A Jagged Little Pill
Right now, it`s not known how far the counterfeit drugs have made it into the country or whether it has been administered to any patients as of yet, but with the ensuing FDA probe, many in the healthcare industry feel that it is about time this issue was brought into the spotlight. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that roughly 10-15% of the world`s drug supply is counterfeit--more than half of that in the United States alone, primarily sold via the internet.
2 years ago, when the H1N1 flu epidemic was wreaking havoc all over the country, the FDA had to issue a warning that a possible harmful counterfeit vaccine was floating around out there. This incident brought with it the possibility of being fatal in two respects, one being that it may have contained an antibiotic similar to penicillin, which could have caused anaphylactic shock in people who are allergic to the drug, and the second is it was giving people the impression they were protected from the flu when they really weren`t.
2010 also brought with it a counterfeit version of the weight loss drug Alli, which was sold over the Internet and not only lacked the active ingredient in the real drug--but was sold with sibutramine (a version of the prescription weight-loss drug Meridia) that had already been banned from U.S. markets for its possible side effects on the heart.
We`re barely 3 months into 2012, and we`ve already witnessed nine recalls, not only of prescription medications, but over the counter products, as well, most notably the Novartis recall of products like Excedrin, as a result of the potential presence of foreign, chipped or broken tablets/gelcaps.
Given that this is not the first incident (and likely won`t be the last) there are many recommendations that the health care industry would like to see implemented by the FDA and the U.S. Customs agencies. Until that happens though, Lenco Lab wants you to be safe, so please visit the FDA`s website for its list of precautions: www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm048396.htm#