Counterfeit tablets?

M

manhill

Member

• Jun 28, 2017

• #1

My new tablets are supposed to be film coated but don't appear to be so sending some back to wholesaler lab for test. Guess they're cheaper than my previous (same generic) ones. Wholesaler says these could have been made in various parts of the world. If I'm right and they're faulty what else could be wrong with them?
Maybe find traces of horse meat!
Any I'm starting to smell a maximum profit issue here.

 

M

manhill

Member

• Jun 29, 2017

• #2

Digging a little deeper, this advert from a company that has been supplying the NHS for many years:

We pack around four billion tablets and capsules a year into around 200 million packs of medicines at our solid dose packaging facility in Eastbourne. This site follows industry-recognised Good Manufacturing Practice, meaning the highest standards of quality and safety are applied throughout the packaging process.

From the tablets/capsules arriving in bulk containers to the final medicine boxes being stored on the pallet ready for shipping, our packaging experts oversee every stage. This includes creating the artwork for the outer box, the design and the packaging components.

After they’re packed at our Eastbourne site, our medicine packs arrive at our distribution centre in Castleford, West Yorkshire. Other medicines, such as our branded lines, are delivered directly to our distribution centre.

My illusions that our medicines were mainly made by UK companies shattered!!
Nice to know the the artwork is good though.

 

llamedos

New Member

• Jun 29, 2017

• #3

We do still manufacture a lot of pharmaceuticals in the UK, does not mean because they arrive in containers, they are manufactured outside of UK

 

M

manhill

Member

• Jul 3, 2017

• #4

Update for anyone interested.
Pre-paid bag to send the tablets back in didn't arrive today however I got a phone call from a concerned gentleman with distinctly South Asian accent asking what was wrong with them. Described the problem and he says he's looking into it.

If country of origin has to be displayed on food and other items. Why not medicines? I know some are but why not all?
It's a question I've just put to the regulators.

 

JCMaloney

Member

Location

LE9 2JG

• Jul 4, 2017

• #5

Generics can have QC issues (same as most things!) mostly because they are produced "more cheaply" however they save the NHS/You/Me a fortune and have to meet certain UK standards.
Before Generics can be produced there is a fine balance struck between the Research & Development of new drugs and how long the developing Pharma Company can hold the products rights and, effectively, name the price to fund the next research programme.
If its a Gastro resistant coating then the manufacturer (Generic or otherwise!)will be having a bit of a panic and trying to find out what went wrong before the supply contract gets torn up.
Counterfeiting is a completely different ball game.
Hope you are OK and the result puts your mind at rest.

 

M

manhill

Member

• Jul 4, 2017

• #6

Counterfeit was probably a harsh word although nothing surprises me when it comes to making money.. Substandard at least is how I'll describe it.
I had never realised that the term 'MA Holder' marked on medicine boxes doesn't relate to the company who actually make the drug, only the packager/ wholesaler.
Now it would be nice to know that there is some kind of quality control in place to check the little pills we gulp down are what they say they are but is there? I'm learning all the time.

 

milkloss

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

East Sussex

• Jul 4, 2017

• #7

Brother used to drive a wagon to Switzerland I believe. Took packaged pills out to Switzerland, brought powder back to the packaging plant in the UK (I think it was that way round). Some kind of tax avoidance I reckon.

 

M

manhill

Member

• Aug 14, 2017

• #8

Update: Picked up new course of tablets from chemist and surprise surprise they're now from a different wholesaler (''laboratory'').
Something must have hit the fan!

 

Princess Pooper

Member

Location

East Mids

• Aug 14, 2017

• #9

manhill said:

Update: Picked up new course of tablets from chemist and surprise surprise they're now from a different wholesaler (''laboratory'').
Something must have hit the fan!

Click to expand...

That's not unusual, I seem to get a different version of the same generic drugs every time I get my repeats. I have complained a couple of times as one tab I have has that plastic coating and a powder inside and you are supposed to swallow it unbroken but they are so flimsy they often break open when I push them out the blister pack which wastes them.

 

Old Boar

Member

Location

West Wales

• Aug 14, 2017

• #10

You can look up what any drug should look like and what markings it should have - try https://www.drugs.com/pill_identification.html
The pills I was on were made by one company in Britain and they suddenly realised they could charge what they liked for it, so the price went up to £270 for a months supply. The same drug can be bought in Spain for £3 for a months supply. Now the NHS is saying they cannot afford this drug, so are taking patients off it, and they are getting sick....

Pham is big business, with no feelings. It is all for profit.

 

M

manhill

Member

• Aug 15, 2017

• #11

Princess Pooper said:

That's not unusual, I seem to get a different version of the same generic drugs every time I get my repeats. I have complained a couple of times as one tab I have has that plastic coating and a powder inside and you are supposed to swallow it unbroken but they are so flimsy they often break open when I push them out the blister pack which wastes them.

Click to expand...

Sub-standard in packaging then maybe sub-standard in content? Who is making this? Some backstreet chemist in Asia?

 

mrs mtx

Member

Location

Pembrokeshire

• Aug 17, 2017

• #12

Old Boar said:

You can look up what any drug should look like and what markings it should have - try https://www.drugs.com/pill_identification.html
The pills I was on were made by one company in Britain and they suddenly realised they could charge what they liked for it, so the price went up to £270 for a months supply. The same drug can be bought in Spain for £3 for a months supply. Now the NHS is saying they cannot afford this drug, so are taking patients off it, and they are getting sick....

Pham is big business, with no feelings. It is all for profit.

Click to expand...

Some of us in pharmacy care

We have lots of new chemo drugs coming out recently for patient trials and some treatments can be in the £10,000s as the company have a patent on it for a certain time but once the times ran out, other companies can make it at a fraction of the cost

It doesn't seem fair that some people don't fall in the right catogries to allow funding but these companies can make so much money from the drugs

 

Wellytrack

Member

• Aug 17, 2017

• #13

http://fortune.com/2017/08/08/martin-shkreli-pharma-bro-pharmaceutical-company-convicted/