[Ip-health] Financial Times- Regulator plays down fake medicine threat

[Terri - Louise Beswick]

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Regulator plays down fake medicine threat

By Andrew Jack, Pharmaceuticals Correspondent

Published: November 19 2009 22:43 | Last updated: November 19 2009 22:43

The medicines regulator yesterday played down the threat from
counterfeit medicines
<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ab959040-b6c5-11de-8a28-00144feab49a.html> ,
in a swipe at fresh, corporate-funded efforts to highlight fake drugs as
a growing risk in the UK and Europe.

In an unusual public statement, Mike Deats, head of enforcement at the
Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, said: "People can
be reassured that it is extremely rare to receive counterfeit medicines
from either a registered UK pharmacy or from any other legitimate
outlet."

His comments followed the release of a survey of consumers which claimed
that more than 1m Britons believed "they have definitely received
counterfeit medication".

The research was conducted by Aegate, a consultancy which is marketing a
system across Europe that stores a unique identity code allocated to
every pack, allowing pharmacists to check whether a drug is a fake or
has been withdrawn. The survey is the latest in efforts by companies,
including several large pharmaceutical groups, to raise concerns over
the dangers of counterfeit drugs.

Pfizer <http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us:PFE> , the
world's largest pharmaceutical group, has managed to get the MHRA to
endorse its own media campaign warning of the dangers of buying
medicines over the internet, including shock adverts
<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f3c7ed44-e2a5-11dd-b1dd-0000779fd2ac.html> in
cinemas and on television showing a man extracting a dead rat from his
mouth.

The company aims to highlight that rat poison and other substances have
been found in fake versions of its products sold over the internet,
including Viagra for erectile dysfunction and Lipitor to lower
cholesterol.

However, it has also used counterfeits as a way to attack traders who
buy medicines on sale in one country at a low price and repackage them
for sale in another at a higher price.

While seizures of counterfeit drugs by European customs agents have
risen significantly in recent years, the proportion of fake prescription
medicines sold through pharmacies and other regulated networks remains
modest.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5378cf2e-d544-11de-81ee-00144feabdc0.html