Study to Determine Drug Counterfeiting in India

China's not the world's only source of counterfeit drugs. Perhaps 20% of pharmaceuticals in India may be fake, according to a story in today's Times of India. Moreover, 75% of fake medications distributed throughout the world may come from India, claims the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. To clarify the extent of the problem, India's drug controller general is initiating a 5-million-rupee (~$118,000-USD) 6-month study, in which inspectors will anonymously pick up 31,000 drug samples—representing a wide range of therapeutic classes—for testing.

India's health ministry and others, however, dispute the estimated magnitude of the problem and suggest that 5% or less of Indian drugs are counterfeit. One drug expert doubted the wide extent of counterfeiting in India, because legitimate drugs can already be made there at rock-bottom prices. "India is the only country where tableting, packaging, and carton costs are more than the cost of the actual active medicine," quotes the paper.

Nevertheless, India's health secretary agrees that the extent of counterfeiting should be determined, and the controller general's study design is evidently awaiting financial approval from the health ministry. 

HT: WSJ Health Blog.

Photo: iStockPhoto.