Fake Viagra Singapore

Chemists develop new approach to detect counterfeit medicines such as Viagra.
University of Montreal.
Researchers at the University of Montreal have developed an improved chemical analysis method that is more efficient and faster in detecting counterfeit medicines, which have skyrocketed in recent years. The method was developed and tested in a study by Philippe Lebel, Alexandra Furtos and Karen Waldron of the university’s Department of Chemistry. It identifies and quantifies the various compounds present in a pharmaceutical product, in a fifth of the time it takes governmental services to do the same job. “Fake drugs are a scourge for public health,” says Lebel. Once a simple artisanal activity, counterfeiting has become a global industry linked to organized crime and the mafia. “According to the World Health Organization, worldwide sales of counterfeit medicines reached $75 billion in 2010. Sildenafil citrate, better known by its trade name, Viagra, and the two other erectile dysfunction drugs, Cialis and Levitra, are among the most counterfeited drugs in the world.”
It is not a coincidence. Men who suffer from erectile problems often have difficulty talking about it with their doctor. “On the Internet, they don’t have to consult a professional or have embarrassing conversations,” says Furtos. “It also costs much less: $1 per tablet compared to $15 for the real deal.”
However, buying prescription drugs online exposes the buyer to potentially serious health risks. “These drugs are often manufactured in garages with poor sanitation. They can be dosed less, even devoid of the active ingredient,” Waldron says. “Worse, they can contain a different substance that can cause undesirable side effects.”
In 2008, in Singapore, 150 patients were hospitalized with severe hypoglycemia caused by a sudden drop in blood sugar. Four died and seven suffered brain damage. They had taken counterfeit erection-inducing drugs that contained glyburide, a drug to treat diabetes. “The number of deaths from counterfeit drugs is unknown,” Waldron says, “but given the scale of the trade, the risks are considerable.”
Faced with this potential danger, the researchers decided to unite their efforts to improve detection systems.
A better method.
Between September 2012 and June 2013, at the University of Montreal’s Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, using highly specialized equipment, Lebel developed an analytical method to detect the 80 substances that may be substituted for the active ingredients in the three erectile dysfunction drugs on the market: Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra. Thirty pharmaceutical and natural products, some of which were seized at the Canadian border, were then analyzed to test and prove the potential of the new method.
“Our approach does not only target a medication’s active ingredient,” says Furtos. “Rather, using a scanning technique, it also detects non-targeted compounds, some of them new synthetic analogs of the active ingredient. This is the originality of the method.”
The results of the study, which were recently published in the Journal of Chromatography , reveal that the University of Montreal analyses match those previously conducted by Health Canada using the older method. While it is therefore possible to tell whether a product is counterfeit or not using either method, the researchers’ technique is much more efficient. “Our analysis takes ten minutes, whereas previously, it took up to fifty,” says Lebel. “In addition, our method identifies compounds that were not identified before, even in low concentrations.”
Another sign that their approach is promising is that Health Canada has already incorporated it in its counterfeit monitoring process. It could even serve as a model for the rest of the world in the anti-counterfeiting and anti-doping battle.
Awareness above all.
The threat of counterfeit pharmaceuticals is not new. But the growth of e-commerce has flooded the market with a wide range of both brand name and generic drugs.
Note, generics are not counterfeit products. They are copies of drugs whose formulas have become part of the public domain. They are subject to the same safety and quality control regulations as brand name drugs.
“The problem comes from the sale of prescription drugs outside pharmacies,” notes Lebel. “There is no information on the actual origin of these products, their storage conditions, their composition, their dosages, or their toxicity, for example.”
Asia and India take the lion’s share of the counterfeit drug trade. But there is counterfeiting all over the world, and counterfeiters have been extremely creative in imitating products and avoiding detection. “Customs officials often find them hidden in plush toys, natural products, or rice cookers,” notes Furtos.
People do not necessarily realize that the medicine they purchased online is counterfeit because the packaging and appearance are often similar to the genuine product. But the tablets received are anything but genuine. A Dutch study cited by the International Journal of Clinical Practice in 2009 found that of 370 samples of Viagra seized, only 10 were genuine.
“Our method can identify counterfeit medicines more quickly and efficiently, but safety must begin with public awareness,” says Waldron.
Provided by: University of Montreal.
Recommended for you.
Hitler definitely died in 1945 according to new study of his teeth.
Three-year study found no relationship between methane concentrations in groundwater and proximity to natural gas wells.
Phone data-leak company: No record of location-data abuse.
Annotation tool provides step toward understanding links between disease, mutant RNA.
Magnonic interferometer paves way toward energy-efficient information processing devices.
Researchers discover how body temperature wrecks potential dengue, Zika vaccine.
Researchers operate lab-grown heart cells by remote control.
Can a quantum drum vibrate and stand still at the same time?
Robotic assembly of the world’s smallest house—even a mite doesn’t fit through the door.
A soft solution to the hard problem of energy storage.
Explore further.
Fake drugs labelled as Chinese tea: France in record haul (Update)
Aspirin, anti-diarrhoea and erectile dysfunction drugs: French customs have seized millions of counterfeit medicines imported from China in what they described as the biggest haul of its kind within the European Union.
Internet led to global ‘explosion’ of fake drugs.
The rapid growth of Internet commerce has led to an explosion of counterfeit drugs sold around the world, with China the biggest source of fake medicines, pharmaceutical experts said Thursday.
More than a quarter of emergency contraceptives in Peru falsified or substandard.
A survey of emergency contraceptive pills in Peru found that 28 percent of the batches studied were either of substandard quality or falsified. Many pills released the active ingredient too slowly. Others had the wrong active .
Simple new test to combat counterfeit drug problem in developing countries.
In a thrust against the major problem of counterfeit medicines sold in developing countries, which causes thousands of illnesses and deaths annually, scientists today described development of a simple, paper-strip test that .
Counterfeit Internet drugs pose significant risks and discourage vital health checks.
Men who buy fake internet drugs for erection problems can face significant risks from potentially hazardous contents and bypassing healthcare systems could leave associated problems like diabetes and high blood pressure undiagnosed. .
FDA warns doctors of counterfeit Botox.
Federal regulators have warned more than 350 medical practices that Botox they may have received from a Canadian supplier is unapproved and could be counterfeit or unsafe.