How Many More Victims of Fake Heart Drug Scam?

AN urgent inquiry was demanded last night after it emerged that a fake version of a heart drug taken by millions was sent to pharmacies.

Health chiefs rushed to recall an entire batch of 120,000 pirated packets of Lipitor the anti-cholesterol drug for which 11million prescriptions are issued each year.

The alert, involving all 20,000 pharmacies in the UK, was triggered after more than 70 counterfeit boxes of Lipitor were traced to two wholesalers.

It was not known last night how many patients had taken the bogus drugs, which may not contain the genuine cholesterollowering ingredient.

Tests on them indicated there was no immediate risk to patients and those who may have taken them were urged not to panic.

But the discovery has raised fears that many more fake drugs may have been put into circulation in this country by international gangs keen to tap into the lucrative pharmaceuticals market.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Paul Burstow called on the Department of Health to investigate. ‘I have asked for information about the true level of counterfeiting,’ he said. ‘I suspect it is a bigger problem than we have been told about and that the incidents coming to light are only the tip of an iceberg.

‘It is vital there is an urgent investigation as lives are at stake.’

Lipitor, also known by its generic name atorvastatin, costs Pounds 24 for a month’s supply, earning its makers Pfizer Pounds 1.7billion a year worldwide.

It is one of a range of statin drugs taken by at least two million Britons, who have either had a heart attack or are at high risk of heart disease.

Statins are proven to cut the likelihood of heart attacks and improve the health of diabetics among others.

The fake pills were discovered following the seizure of a batch in the Dutch port of Rotterdam in May. They were marked with a real Lipitor batch number 004405K1 and have since been found at UK pharmacies. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency decided to recall 120,000 packets, each containing 28 pills.

A spokesman for the agency said patients may have taken products without any therapeutic value.

‘Some patients may have missed some doses as a result but it will not be detrimental to their health in the long term,’ she said.

She added that this was the third time counterfeit medicines had found their way into the UK prescription supply chain.

Last August copies of the impotence drug Cialis and Reductil, which helps weight loss, were the subject of agency alerts.

Alarm about the threat to public health prompted it to set up a task force to tackle the problem. The team includes former military personnel, police and experts on high-tech crime.

Most counterfeits are believed to come from China, India and Eastern Europe.

Thousands of patients in the developing world are thought to have died in recent years after taking bogus non-active versions of vital drugs including malaria treatments and insulin.

Nimo Ahmed, head of intelligence at the products agency, said the latest alert showed counterfeiting of prescription medicines was the emerging crime of the 21st century.

He said: ‘This discovery illustrates what we have been saying for some time, that no pharmaceutical supply chain is impenetrable.

But we remain at the forefrontof tackling this crime.

The UK’s supply chain is one of the most difficult to penetrate because of the safeguards that are in place.

‘We need to review whether current safeguards are adequate and if the sanctions available to the courts are a deterrent.’ Kate Lloyd, medical director of Pfizer UK, said the company was phasing in tamper-evident packaging for all its medicines.

She called on the Government and European authorities to consider other measures, including outlawing the repackaging of original manufacturer’s medicines by a third party.

j.hope@dailymail.co.uk

Pills that save 7,000 lives a year STATINS help reduce levels of cholesterol, the waxy, fat-like substance that builds up inside our arteries.

THE drugs alter enzyme activity in the liver, where cholesterol is produced.

MORE than two million Britons at risk of heart attack and stroke are prescribed statins such as Lipitor.

IT is the world’s best-selling drug and is estimated to prevent around 7,000 deaths in the UK each year.

SOME studies suggest statins may also protect against blood clots, Alzheimer’s and eye disorders.

THERE are three ways to spot the fake pills currently in circulation.

Look for the batch number 004405K1 on packets of 20mg Lipitor tablets.

THE ends of the box containing the plastic container should be glued shut. If they are folded shut, the pills are counterfeit.

WHEN the packaging is squashed flat, all the writing on the cardboard should face the same way. On the fake product the writing is upside down on one side.