HEALTHCARE Daily Digest
Number: 54 Date: 12 / 09 / 2011
Contents: Pharma & Medical Devices:
• 50% of medicines purchased online are counterfeit (page 2)
• AstraZeneca digs deeper in China with generics buy (page 2)
• Bayer birth control pill backed by U.S. Panel seeking clarity on clot risk (page 2)
Public System:
• Bayer birth control pill backed by U.S. Panel seeking clarity on clot risk (page 3)
• Union leader Marius Petcu sentenced to seven years in jail (page 3)
HEALTHCARE Daily Digest
PHARMA & MEDICAL DEVICES
50% of medicines purchased online are counterfeit
World Health Organization warns that some 50% of the medicines purchased online are counterfeit.
The products can be bought easily, without medical prescription and for a much lower price.
“It is not indicated to buy medicines online, as there are not enough ways to control their quality. It is
much safer for us to buy medicines from pharmacies, were the safety degree is much higher and the products
actually contain the active substances written on the prospect. This is an advise for food supplements as well”,
says Dr. Radu Leon George.
Specialists also warn on the fact that medicines purchased online encourage self-medication, a chapter
where Romanians are leaders, with 7 of 10 people ignoring the doctors’ advices when comes to administrating
medicines.
(Adevarul - 09.12.2011)
AstraZeneca digs deeper in China with generics buy International
AstraZeneca is stepping up its drive into emerging markets by buying
a Chinese maker of generic injectable antibiotics. The move highlights
the growing importance of markets like China for international drugmakers,
even as healthcare reforms in the country lead to some slowing in recent
rapid growth in demand for medicines. Britain’s second biggest drugmaker
said on Thursday it was buying privately owned Guangdong BeiKang
Pharmaceutical for an undisclosed sum under a deal set to close in the first
quarter of 2012.
The Chinese firm’s five injectable treatments will be marketed using
the AstraZeneca brand, once they are manufactured to its global standards,
which AstraZeneca expects to take until mid-2013.
(Full article on Reuters.com)
Bayer birth control pill backed by U.S. Panel seeking clarity on clot risk
Bayer’s Yaz and its class of birth control pills containing the hormone drospirenone were backed in
a close vote of U.S. advisers seeking clearer guidance for women about the danger of potential blood clots.
Studies have shown conflicting evidence about whether women who take the pills have a higher risk of blood
clots than if they take older birth control pills that don’t contain drospirenone. Those ambiguous results
prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to request yesterday’s review.
The reproductive and drug safety advisory panels voted 15-11 that the benefits of the class of oral contraceptives
including Yaz outweigh the risks. The advisers also voted 21-5 that information labels for the pills
be changed to better reflect the potential for blood clots. The FDA isn’t required to follow the panels’ advice.
(Full article on Bloomberg.com)
HEALTHCARE Daily Digest
PUBLIC SYSTEM
Romania to have first cancer patient recovery clinic in 2013
Romania will have in 2013 the first medical clinic for the recovery of patients
suffering from cancer, where they will learn how to cope with all the aspects of the
disease. The announcement was made yesterday by Pavel Chirita, executive director of
the “Saint Irina” Foundation, according to whom the Oncology Recovery Unit will be
erected in the Nera Valley, Caras Severin County. The clinic will offer post-treatment
care to patients with incipient forms of cancer and will include a research department
for prevention and early detection of cancer. At the 42-bed unit, patients will undergo
psychotherapy, kinetotherapy and dietotherapy and will learn how to maintain an appropriate
lifestyle, adjusted to the needs of a body recovering from the fight against this
disease. Construction works are due to start in March 2012 and slated for completion in
August 2013.
(Click, Jurnalul National, Nine O’clock - 09.12.2011)
Union leader Marius Petcu sentenced to seven years in jail
Marius Petcu, former leader of CNSLR Fratia and Sanitas Federation, was
sentenced to seven years in prison after being found guilty of corruption by the
Bucharest Tribunal on Thursday. He was also stripped by some of his rights for
the following ten years after he finishes his term. Petcu told Mediafax that he was
disappointed, confused and outraged with the ruling. He added that the case was a
set-up and that he was not allowed to present evidence in his defense.
“The current rule, obviously bothered by protest actions, concerned with
the electoral year that’s about to start and which must be a quiet one, used all its
weapons to behead the union movement and show it to its place,” the former union
leader said.
(Adevarul, Cronica Romana, Curentul, Jurnalul National, Ring, Romania Libera -
09.12.2011)

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