More counterfeit Lipitor found in UK
Counterfeit Lipitor tablets have been found in the UK for the second time.
The Financial Times reported this week that the product was discovered
in the possession of a licensed wholesaler, but a Medicines and Healthcare
products Regulatory Agency spokesman stated that the product was not
believed to have found its way into the legitimate medicines supply chain.
The spokesman said that investigations following the discovery
of counterfeit Lipitor at the end of July (PJ, 6 August, p155) had led to the discovery
of the second batch. Packs of the second product — purporting to
be Lipitor 40mg tablets — bear a genuine Pfizer batch number but
one that has not been released for distribution in the EU.
More widely, the MHRA is increasingly concerned about the availability
of both genuine and fake drugs over the internet and in public houses,
clubs and gymnasiums.
In excess of 400 investigations are in train, including both counterfeit
products and illegal sales of genuine medicines and prosecutions are
brought wherever possible. Most recently, a man from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire,
was sentenced to 100 hours’ community service after pleading guilty
to selling the sildenafil-based product Kamagra that he had obtained
from India. |
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