Generic Dangers: What Drug Companies Won't Tell YouWednesday, 02 Jul 2014 09:51 AM By Charlotte Libov
The vast majority of prescription drugs sold in the U.S. –
85 percent – are generic. And many of these medications are
made in India where a string of recalls has been issued
because of manufacturing errors.
Even worse, there is no way for patients to know where a
generic drug is produced, says renowned cardiologist
Chauncey Crandall, M.D.
“Chain drug stores order their generic medications in bulk.
They put out bids and the winning bid could come from India,
Pakistan, China, or even Iran,” says Dr. Crandall, author of
the No. 1 Amazon best-selling book
The Simple Heart Cure.
“Patients have no way of knowing where generics are coming
from, and this is a dangerous situation because these drugs
can kill,” he adds.
Dr. Crandall’s comments come in the wake of a string of drug
recalls of products made by Indian pharmaceutical companies.
Some 100,000 bottles of the heart drug Toprol XL were
recalled because they didn’t dissolve properly. The
medication is a beta blocker taken by millions of Americans
to prevent strokes, heart attacks, and sudden cardiac
death.
Dr. Crandall, author of the
Heart Health Report, says he
has seen firsthand among his patients the dangers posed by
inferior generic medications.
“I had patients who were taking a generic version of the
cardiac drug Coreg. The drug didn’t seem to be working
properly and my patients were actually going into heart
failure,” he says. “In my practice, I provide my patients
with prescriptions for brand name drugs, but insurance
companies often refuse to fill them with anything but
generics.
“This is a deplorable situation throughout the U.S., but it
is also especially acute in our military hospitals, where
patients often get only generic drugs,” adds Dr. Crandall,
director of preventative medicine at the Palm Beach
Cardiovascular Clinic.
Dr. Crandall advises taking the brand-name version of
medications, not generics, whenever possible.
India provides about 40 percent of the generic drugs sold in
the U.S. But in recent months the Food and Drug
Administration has banned the import of medications made at
facilities owned by three of India’s largest drug
manufacturers, Wockhardt, Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, and
Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd. In addition, the World Health
Organization has warned that Indian drugs account for
one-fifth of the fake drugs sold worldwide.
Here are some of the drug recalls resulting from
manufacturing problems at major Indian pharmaceutical
firms:
© 2014 NewsmaxHealth. All rights reserved. http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/Health-News/generic-drug-concerns-safety/2014/07/02
|