The Peterson Group Starts Battle against Adulterated Medicine

Jakarta, Indonesia – Protection against the risk of adulterated drugs, of course, originally lies with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, with the wide case of counterfeiting across the globe, other NGOs have pitched in. From local units which have mastered the country’s bylaws regarding medical issues to international institutions embracing a larger scope of coverage, different bodies of anti-counterfeiting have been in active campaign. This time, The Peterson Group has asked for its share.

The Peterson Group, a non-profit organization campaigning against drug counterfeiting has declared its disapproval on the adulteration of medicines in western Jakarta. The organization has also publicly declared that it will continue to obliterate the practice in each town and province in the archipelago with the help of the government and local units.

Adulteration may be a different term used but in essence, it is defined as the practice of substituting the original drug partially or as a whole with other similar looking substance. The same definition applies to drug fraudulence under the general illegal practice of counterfeiting. The only difference is that in adulteration, the label is legit, only the components are not.

Economically motivated adulteration includes the potential for contaminated, sub‐potent or counterfeit medication to enter the supply chain at several levels, from the production of raw ingredients through to the point of retail sale.

The true prevalence of such adulteration is unknown. In recent years, the pharmaceutical supply chain has been more complicated, extending beyond each nation’s shore in unprecedented way. Even the mighty Americans have complaints on how fast adulterated medicines have penetrated the market. They are now consuming pharmaceutical medicines which originated in thousands of manufacturing facilities in developing nations outside the formal jurisdiction of FDA.

TPG has also suggested some regulations that can be applied to regulate the supply chain”

• Promulgation of good manufacturing practices and related standards

- Each health organization in each country should apply proper standard discipline in manufacturing local medicines. Developing countries may find this hard with the lack of resources but with the proper allocation of national budget, it can be achieved.

• Compliance reviews, including inspections of manufacturing facilities

- Proper inspection and quality assurance team should be employed by the government and private manufacturing companies to ensure the quality of medicines being released.

• Review of pharmaceutical imports at the point of entry in each country

- Ports, airlines and other point of entries should be monitored at all times. Any suspicious activities should be put in question

• Oversight of pharmaceutical distribution within the country

- Both legitimate pharmacies and black markets are to be checked and rechecked for any possible adulteration.