Counterfeit medicines, some of them sold over the Internet, are swamping unregulated markets in developing nations with sometimes fatal results, the U.N. drug control watchdog said on Thursday.
Some 25 to 50 percent of the medicines used in developing countries were now believed to be fake, the International Narcotics Control Board said in its 2006 report, quoting World Health Organization (WHO) findings. Providers ranged from makeshift village markets to Web sites.
"This market is believed to be increasing rapidly. (It) exposes patients to serious health risks by providing access to poorly or incorrectly labeled medicines that are ineffective, substandard and, in some cases, even lethal," it said.
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"The abuse and trafficking of prescription drugs is set to exceed abuse of illicit drugs. Demand for these products is so high that it has given rise to a new problem -- counterfeit products ... Progress made over the last 40 years in the control of illicit drugs is now being undermined," the report said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL2815175020070301
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