SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- Cuban health authorities warned about the circulation of medicines counterfeit and illegally marketed in different Latin American countries.
In several bulletins published by the Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (CECMED), they warned about fake medicines that could be circulating in Latin American regions, including Cuba, and that could affect sick people.
Dobutamine, Erbitux, Ramiven, Acetaminophen, Dolo-Neurobion Forte (in injectable solution presentation) and Eutirox In Mexico and El Salvador, these are counterfeit medicines that are circulating illegally.
According to Cuba’s regulatory body for pharmaceutical products, equipment and medical devices, although there is no record of the presence of counterfeit medicines on the island, international travelers could acquire them and introduce them into the country.
The authorities They specified which only have health registration for Eutirox (levothyroxine sodium) tablet 100 mcg, owned by Merck, SA de CV, Mexico, but lot numbers M16806 and M31772 have not been authorized for import.
Given the potential threat to health posed by the ingestion of counterfeit medicines, it was suggested not to purchase the product Dobutamine, Intravenous Injectable Solution 250 mg/5 mL, from HEALTH BIOTECH LIMITED, since “the origin, manufacturing and storage conditions are unknown and therefore its quality, safety and efficacy may be compromised.”
They also advise against purchasing the product Erbitux (Cetuximab) 5 mg/ml, Ramiven (Abemaciclib) 150 mg tablets, Acetaminophen MK 500 mg tablets, batch identified L01961, with an expiration date of December 2027.
They suggested not to acquire lots M33440, which expires on June 25, and M93983, which expires on November 27, of the product Eutirox (levothyroxine sodium) tablet 100 mcg and not to obtain lots M16806 and M31772 of the product Eutirox (levothyroxine sodium) tablet 100 mcg.
“To health professionals: if you identify this product or detect suspected adverse reactions associated with its use, please notify the following email address: [email protected] or call 72164372, 72164352, 72164136,” they wrote.
On other occasions, the specialists Cubans have acknowledged that the circulation of counterfeit medicines is due to the drug crisis in Cuba and the lack of rigor in customs controls.
Years ago, doctor Roberto Serrano, resident in Songo la Maya, province of Santiago de Cuba, pointed out that most of the medicines currently consumed by Cubans are obtained on the black market and enter the country from different countries “without strict control over these imports and this lends itself to profit and negligence.”
For his part, traumatologist Ramón Zamora, from the province of Holguín, said that in his city the medicines included in the card system were not arriving and many people were turning to the green medicine.
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