I know a lot of you guys buy your prescription drugs on the cheap in Thailand. Consequently, I thought the following story may be of interest to you, especially if you find an extra special cheap source of medicine for yourself or your Num. Just out of curiosity, has anyone here had a bad reaction to a medicine they brought in Thailand that they never experienced before when they were buying it at home? Or perhaps a medication that suddenly stopped working when it was sourced from Thailand. Could be a fake!? I guess it's just another thing for - Let the buyer beware!



Fake drugs a growing problem, scientist says


2.20pm Wednesday October 25, 2006

The trade in fake drugs is growing as sophisticated counterfeiting operations produce billions of fake pills for sale, a scientist says.

Dallas Mildenhall at GNS Science said today: "Some pills contain carcinogenic chemicals, solvents, and other harmful substances, but most deaths occur because they lack the active ingredients needed for treating illnesses such as malaria," Dr Mildenhall said.

He has been working with Interpol for the past 18 months to track down illegal manufacturing plants in Asia.

"The main drug being faked is the anti-malaria agent Artesunate, but it is likely a wide range of counterfeit drugs are being made and are finding their way into many countries, including New Zealand, via the internet," said Dr Mildenhall.

Most of the drugs were being made in illicit operations in the border areas between China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar.

Dr Mildenhall said forensic analysis of fake tablets had resulted in two operations in China being shut down and arrests made. However, other operations had evaded the surveillance and the flow of fake drugs continued.

"The counterfeiting is so good that it's impossible to tell the fake pills and packaging apart from the genuine product, even with close visual inspection," Dr Mildenhall said.

"Every security measure taken by the genuine manufacturers, such as holograms on the packaging and serial numbers on the blister packs, has been successfully copied by the counterfeiters."

In 1995 Dr Mildenhall, was asked to help with an Interpol operation because he is one of the world's top forensic palynologists - an expert on pollen grains and spores. Interpol is co-ordinating law enforcement operations, scientific analysis, and public health responses.

At his laboratory in Lower Hutt, Dr Mildenhall found the fake pills contained the pollen of about 30 species of trees and herbs that are found in certain areas along the Chinese-Vietnam border.

This enabled Interpol to narrow their search. Other substances found in the pills were dust, animal and human hair, insect remains, charcoal, and carbon from motor vehicle exhaust.

He said the fake drugs were causing thousands of deaths in Southeast Asia each year.

"They have started appearing in Africa, which is a bigger market and potentially more deadly. If they take hold in Africa, there will be a massive humanitarian problem."

In Southeast Asia, counterfeit drugs were typically sold alongside genuine drugs in places such as roadside stalls.

- NZPA (The New Zealand Herald)

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