BAD MEDICINE
(By Roger Bate) Each time we take medicine, we assume that the manufacturer did its best to produce a quality product. Evidence is mounting, however, that some pharmaceutical manufacturers in countries like India cut corners and send low-quality products to major, developed markets. Worse still, they may have separate production lines for drugs they sell in developing markets like Africa, where poor quality is more likely to go unnoticed.
In mid-2013, India's largest drugmaker, Ranbaxy, pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to several criminal offenses relating to the fraudulent manufacture and sale of adulterated drugs. (The United States is the biggest importer of generic Indian drugs.) Among other revelations, Ranbaxy's executives acknowledged that "more than 200 products in more than 40 countries" are affected by "elements of data that were fabricated to support [Ranbaxy's] business needs." In other words, Ranbaxy made up facts and figures to demonstrate product safety for myriad drugs, including critical HIV medicines paid for by U.S. tax dollars and destined for the poor in Africa. As a consequence, the company was fined $500 million.
The Indian government, protective of its country's $20 billion pharmaceutical industry, quickly responded by claiming that Indian drugs are in fact safe. But in September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned imports of drugs from another Ranbaxy plant that had not been implicated in the recent settlement.
