Altagracia Paulino, the Director of the National Consumer Rights Protection Institute (Pro Consumidor) has issued an alert about the presence of counterfeit medicines in the country and announced plans for a campaign to stop people buying them.
According to Paulino, the he World Health Organization has said that Dominican Republic is the ninth highest country in the region in the list of counterfeit medicine sales. An estimated 10% to 30% of the products in the market are fakes.
She said that people should buy the same brand they bought before and if they find a counterfeit one they should not buy it but should call the National Drug and Pharmacy Council on 809 541-0027 and 809 200-2538.
She highlighted that counterfeit medicines could kill people, so it was a serious problem and that the fake ones were usually made of colored chalk and the capsules contained beans and lentils or even dangerous substances.
The most common fake medicines are children’s medicines, painkillers, hypertension remedies and those sold in bulk.
www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2013/01/29/i369306_pro-consumidor-alerta-sobre-venta-medicamentos-falsos-pais.html