T&T: Beware fake drugs

Pharmacists are seeking amendments to the Pharmacy Board Act to counter the multi-million dollar trade in counterfeit pharmaceuticals. They are also advocating random testing of pharmaceuticals to detect fake drugs which enjoy a thriving trade in Trinidad and the rest of the Caribbean.

President Wasir Hosein said on a daily basis new drugs originating from countries not known for pharmaceuticals, were entering T&T unregulated.

He said many of these were counterfeit drugs which posed a serious threat to the health of the population.

By one definition, counterfeit drugs are items that resemble their legitimate counterparts but contain inactive or incorrect ingredients, are in improper doses or are otherwise contaminated.

“I have no doubt that counterfeit drugs are in T&T,” Hosein said, adding suitcase traders, especially from Guyana, were largely responsible for the items entering the domestic supply.