President of the Cancer Society: 40% of medicines are fake
Anton Kravtsov, "Evening Moscow"David Zaridze commented on the situation with the exposure of a group that sold counterfeit medicines in the country
David Zaridze.
Photos from the personal archive.On June 27, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced a successful special operation, during which an organized bandit group engaged in the manufacture and sale of counterfeit medicines in the European part of Russia was detained.
According to operatives, "medicines" were supplied to pharmacies in Moscow, Moscow region, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Rostov and Voronezh regions. Moreover, the emphasis was placed on vital, and consequently expensive drugs. The list includes such names as: "Meronem" (a broad-spectrum bactericidal antibiotic. Price from 15,000 rubles), "Desferal" (a strong drug for the treatment of blood diseases. The price starts from 6500 rubles) and "Herceptin" (antitumor oncological agent. Price from 25,000 rubles).
Based on the collected materials, the investigative part of the GSU of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Rostov region initiated a criminal case against the organizer of the illegal production and sale of counterfeit drugs under the article "Creation and management of an organized criminal community", and against six of his accomplices – under the article "Participation in a criminal community". Items and documents relevant to the investigation were seized. Key witnesses have been questioned.
According to reports, the community's income amounted to about half a billion rubles, and the damage to pharmaceutical companies exceeded 600 million rubles.
The situation with counterfeit medicines in Russia is quite acute. It is quite difficult to track counterfeit goods, and experts say that its percentage of the total number of medicines on the shelves is a significant percentage.
– I'm afraid that no one will be able to tell you how often this happens and how much counterfeit there is in pharmacies. In general, we have a lot of counterfeit drugs, and not only antitumor drugs. As people say, 40% of drugs are counterfeit. Therefore, many people buy medicines exclusively abroad, where they are cheaper," explained Professor, Director of the Research Institute of Carcinogenesis of the Russian Cancer Research Center, President of the Cancer Society of Russia David Zaridze.
In addition, the doctor noted that many fake drugs, contrary to popular belief that they are life-threatening, in fact, are simply useless.
– Their danger depends on what they are made of. Most likely, these drugs are made of nothing, water and something else that creates the impression of a drug. I don't think any toxic substances are put there on purpose, but the danger is that the patient is not being treated. He gets this "medicine", but there is no effect. First of all, this is a disaster for a particular patient, and secondly, it discredits antitumor therapy," Zaridze said.
He noted that not only in our country there is such a problem. In the countries of the "third world", medical counterfeit is regularly detected, which is sent in the form of humanitarian aid.
On the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it is reported that operational search measures to identify and document the illegal activities of the caught group have been conducted for 3 years. They are not finished even now, due to the fact that there are still many dark spots and shadow players in this huge pharmaceutical industry.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru28.06.2013