The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

Russia dabbles big time in fake pharma:

http://www.dw.de/russia-dabbles-big-time-in-fake-pharma/a-18466188

The last thing the neurologist said to me as I hobbled toward the door with my prescription for painkillers in hand was "be careful where you get that script filled, the market is full of counterfeits."

…It's not known exactly how many medications sold in Russia are counterfeit. The government says it's as low between 3-4 percent while random surveys of drugs on pharmacy shelves across the country have shown that as much as 27 percent of the medications stocked are fakes.

These days globally the market is thought to be worth anywhere between $70 billion-$200 billion… Another thing that makes manufacturing counterfeits attractive, aside from the lucrative returns, is that often the penalties are quite low. In some cases there are fines or short jail terms.

…What is also interesting about that example is that shows manufacturers are diversifying. They're no longer just producing the so-called block buster drugs like Viagra and the cholesterol medication, Lipitor, but are now making more than 100 types of [counterfeit] drugs ranging including blood pressure and other heart medications, painkillers, anti-inflammatories, cold and flu drugs…

See #msg-50473238 and #msg-97351346 for related stories.