Ministry of Health warns about fake antibiotics

The Department of Drug Administration, Ministry of Health requested the Thua Thien Hue Department of Health to coordinate with functional units to verify and trace the origin of fake Cefixim 200 antibiotic products appearing in the area.

The Drug Administration of Vietnam received Official Dispatch No. 498/KNH-KHDV dated August 9, 2024 from the Center for Testing Drugs, Cosmetics and Food of Thua Thien Hue province reporting on the product sample with information printed on the label of Cefĩxim 200 film-coated tablets (cefixim 200 mg); GĐKLH number: VD-28887-18; batch number: 15030723, NSX: 030723, HD: 030725; Manufacturer: Cuu Long Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company; the drug sample was taken by the Center for Testing Drugs, Cosmetics and Food of Thua Thien Hue province at Phu Khang Pharmacy (address: 97 Dinh Tien Hoang, Dong Ba ward, Hue city, Thua Thien Hue province).

Illustration photo.

The above drug sample has signs of counterfeit drugs as previously instructed by the Drug Administration of Vietnam on counterfeit drugs Cefixim 200; when checking the quality, the drug batch did not meet the quality requirements for the qualitative criteria of cefixim according to TCCS.

After reviewing and verifying, to ensure safety for users, the Drug Administration of Vietnam requests the Department of Health of Thua Thien Hue province to urgently inspect the compliance with legal regulations in the pharmaceutical business of Phu Khang Pharmacy (address: 97 Dinh Tien Hoang, Dong Ba ward, Hue city, Thua Thien Hue province).

Coordinate with functional units to verify and trace the origin of the above fake Cefixim 200 product. Report the results of the inspection, handling of violations and the origin of the above fake drug batch to the Department of Drug Administration before August 23, 2024.

Previously, at the end of July, the Drug Administration of Vietnam, Ministry of Health sent a document to the Department of Health of provinces and cities regarding the counterfeit antibiotic Cefixim 200, requesting coordination with investigative agencies, verifying information and tracing the origin of the counterfeit Cefixim 200 product, and strictly handling organizations and individuals who violate the law...

Accordingly, the Drug Administration Department said it had received an official dispatch with a Test Certificate from the Thanh Hoa Provincial Testing Center reporting that the product sample had the following labeling information: Cefixim 200 film-coated tablets, GĐKLH number: VD-28887-18, batch number: 15030723, NSX: 030723, HD: 030725, place of manufacture: Cuu Long Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company.

The drug sample was taken by Thanh Hoa Provincial Testing Center at Hung Thinh Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company (address: 207 Hung Long sub-area, Nga Son town, Nga Son district, Thanh Hoa province).

The drug sample did not meet the quality requirements for the qualitative index of Cefixim according to the basic standards. Afterwards, the Drug Administration received an official dispatch from the Binh Duong Provincial Testing Center, sending along a Test Report on the product sample with the following labeling information: Cefixim 200 film-coated tablets, GĐKLH number: VD-28887-18, batch number: 28201123, NSX: 201123, HD: 201125, place of manufacture: Cuu Long Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company.

The drug sample was taken by Binh Duong Provincial Testing Center at Thanh Duy pharmacy (address: 174, group 4, Lai Khe, Lai Hung, Bau Bang district, Binh Duong province). The drug sample did not meet the quality requirements for the qualitative index of Cefixim according to the basic standards.

Regarding drug quality, according to information from the Vietnam Pharmaceutical Business Association, most of the counterfeited pharmaceutical samples are antibiotics, often expensive antibiotics from famous pharmaceutical brands.

Counterfeit drugs are produced quite sophisticatedly, the only difference can be detected when comparing the packaging and instructions for use of real and fake drugs placed side by side.

The representative of the market management agency also admitted that, by conventional methods, it is not easy to accurately detect real and fake.

Testing the ingredients, quality of drugs... is the optimal method to determine the authenticity of a product, but it requires a large amount of money and a long time to evaluate and investigate. This is also a major barrier in detecting and promptly handling the problem of fake drugs and fake functional foods on the market.

The rampant counterfeit drug problem poses a great danger to patients. When using counterfeit drugs, patients may have to spend a lot of money to buy the drugs, but the disease does not improve, but even increases, causing panic and fear for patients because they think they are in a state of "no cure".

Counterfeit drugs also make treatment difficult, because they can neutralize treatment therapies. In cases where a patient is seriously ill and needs to use special drugs or antibiotics, if they use counterfeit drugs, the golden time to save the patient's life will pass, leading to increasingly serious consequences, even death.

Patients taking counterfeit drugs can lead to the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria, forcing doctors to change treatment procedures, prolonging treatment time and increasing costs.

People with chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, etc. (who must take medication regularly and for a long time) if they take counterfeit drugs, it is very dangerous for their lives, because the treatment process is ineffective and the disease becomes more and more severe.

In some cases, counterfeit drugs contain poor quality active ingredients and pharmaceuticals due to the manual production process, the manufacturer mixes in many other impurities, and may even contain toxic substances, which can lead to death for the user.

Doctor Nguyen Trung Nguyen, Director of the Poison Control Center (Bach Mai Hospital) recommends that people should buy medicine at a trusted address, absolutely do not buy "hand-carried" medicine, medicine sold on the Internet in countries that do not have laws to control this type of medicine sale.

Faced with the problem of counterfeit and fake drugs, Mr. Le Van Truyen, Chairman of the Advisory Council for Drug Registration, Ministry of Health, said that genuine enterprises and manufacturers need to invest in research and development of advanced and modern anti-counterfeiting technology to help consumers and managers easily identify brands and trace product origins. This is also an effective way to protect the image of manufacturers and their products, and prevent counterfeiting.

Mr. Vu Tuan Cuong, Director of the Department of Drug Administration, Ministry of Health, requested the Department of Health of provinces and cities to strengthen inspection and examination of drug trading, wholesale and retail establishments in the area, ensuring that drug trading has full invoices and valid documents; promptly detect and prevent trading of drugs of unknown origin and smuggled drugs.

At the same time, coordinate with media agencies to widely inform people not to buy medicine on the Internet, only buy medicine at legal pharmaceutical businesses, with full invoices and documents proving the origin and quality of the medicine.

Medicines are special products, related to human health. Therefore, it is necessary to resolutely eliminate fake, counterfeit and poor quality products to protect people's health. People should also be vigilant against fake and counterfeit medicines, especially with products of unknown origin.

Cefixim is known to be an antibiotic that treats bacterial infections. This drug is indicated for the treatment of infections caused by sensitive bacteria: Upper respiratory tract infections: Bacterial pharyngitis, tonsillitis, otitis media, sinusitis. Lower respiratory tract infections: Acute bronchitis and acute exacerbation of allergic bronchitis. Uncomplicated urinary tract infections: Acute cystitis...

Do not use cefixime for patients with a history of hypersensitivity to cefixime or other cefalosporin antibiotics, or a history of anaphylactic shock due to penicillin.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/bo-y-te-canh-bao-ve-thuoc-khang-sinh-gia-d222613.html