Bad Medicine
By M.D. dela Cruz Tan

USING THE GOOGLE search engine to check "Viagra," over 11,500,000 online sites were listed – which, when narrowed down to “Buy Viagra,” still yielded 5,530,000 sites, testament, if any, to the prescription drug’s popularity, and, to a certain extent, easy accessibility.

But, be warned, not all Viagra (sildenafil citrate) tablets sold are authentic.  According to the Florida Statewide Pharmaceutical Services and Drug Wholesaler Advisory Council in the US, of the 32 top counterfeited drugs, sexual potency drugs (Pfizer Inc.’s Viagra and Lilli ICOS’ Cialis) come second only to cholesterol-inducing medication Lipitor (atorvastatin) (See Table 1), so that even the World Health Organization (WHO) admits that Viagra is “one of the most counterfeited drugs today.”

This may be because, since it was first distributed in 1998 as the first medicine developed for erectile dysfunction, over 170 million prescriptions have already been prescribed by 600,000 doctors.  Roughly, this means that about nine Viagra tablets are sold every second somewhere in the world, making the medicine one of the most popular drugs ever.

And so is stressed the worrying pervasiveness of fake medicines.

In a report titled Combating Counterfeit Medicine, the WHO stated that the production, distribution, and sales of counterfeit medicines, which have been dramatically rising in recent years, matter because its implications are wide, and often connected - from health implications by disregarding patient safety, and increasing morbidity and mortality rates; and, subsequently, having economic implications because of the wastes of already limited government resources for health. 

All these, adds the WHO, easily jeopardize the development of the medicine industry itself.

PRO-ACTIVE APPROACH

In the Philippines, to battle the proliferation of fake medicines , 12 organizations from various industries formed the Coalition Against Fake Medicines (CAFM).  Government agencies Department of Health (DOH), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) joined forces with medical groups Philippine Medical Association (PMA), Philippine Pharmaceutical Association (PPHA), Drugstores Association of the Philippines (DSAP), Mercury Drug Corporation, Watson’s Personal Care Stores, Zuellig Pharma Corporation, and Pfizer Inc., as well as major media players Philippine Daily Inquirer, and GMA 7 Broadcast Network .  While the overall goal is to enforce existing laws against counterfeiting, CAFM also aims to increase awareness of the problem among the consumers with the hope that they, themselves, will be able to correctly determine the authenticity of the medicines they are buying, and will thus not be victimized by counterfeiters.

“(While) medicines play a critical role in curing and controlling diseases and consequently in improving lives, it is very important to differentiate real from fake medicines.  The medicine you are buying from unscrupulous vendors may not only aggravate your health, but it can also lead to your untimely death,” the group says in a prepared statement.

The worry is but rightly so, what with data on the proliferation of fake medicines staggering.  The WHO believes counterfeits make up between 5% and 8% of the $550 billion worth of medicines annually sold worldwide.  60% of counterfeit medicine cases actually occur in least developed and developing countries, with anti-malarials, antibiotics, and HIV and AIDS drugs among those targeted by suppliers.  Overall, this industry is worth over $35 billion.

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