Dr. Neil Singh
Trinidad and Tobago has become a dumping ground for sub-standard drugs manufactured in India and South American countries.
The market is flooded with medication in which the Food and Drugs Division, Ministry of Health, has no facility to do testing for the bio-availability and efficacy of these generic drugs.
The shocking revelation has come from Dr Neil Singh, Head of the University of the West Indies Health (UWI) Unit Service, who said that the cheap generic drugs which come from India are not even sold in that country.
He claimed that no testing is done here for the quality of the active ingredient since the Food and Drug Division (FDD) has a mini laboratory which does a dissolution study.
Dr Singh said the FDD relies on the drug companies to submit documents with clinical data on the drugs, which may be doctored.
However, the medical practitioner was quick to point out that there are some pharmaceutical companies which manufacture good quality generic drugs.
Other doctors are claiming that the FDD is not testing the generic drugs coming into the country from companies in India, which are used by the Ministry of Health Chronic Disease Assistance Programme (CDAP).
Certain companies submit data based on the parent drug, he said.
A number of medical practitioners have been complaining that some of the cheap generic drugs are questionable and are not effective in the treatment of hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic diseases and have serious adverse effects.
“Some of the generic drugs are manufactured in a sub-standard way to reduce cost,” one doctor said.
“CDAP is based on economics and politics,” he noted.
Another doctor said that the FDD is archaic and understaffed, adding that the FDD committee is very weak.
He said that these same generic drugs would not be able to pass the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States.
When TnT Mirror contacted Chief Medical Officer Dr Anton Cumberbatch for a comment on the sub-standard medication being sold, he said evidence must be brought to say the drugs are not effective.
“We test all the drugs we buy,” he pointed out.
In responding to the CMO’s claim that the drugs are tested, Dr Singh replied, “Rubbish!” He insisted there is no testing for the quality of the active ingredient, only a dissolution study. “A tablet is dropped in a glass of water to see how it is dissolved,” he said.
One medical practitioner jokingly said, “We might be getting cement in a tablet because we are not sure what we are getting.”
Health Minister Dr Faud Khan said that while the CDAP drugs come from recognised companies some may be questionable.
There are reports also that one pharmaceutical company which has been blacklisted by the FDD is distributing vitamins and body-building drugs that are not registered with the FDD.
A pharmacist told TnT Mirror a number of pharmacies are flooded with the illegal vitamins and body-building drugs, which are supposed to get FDD approval.
He said all pharmaceuticals coming into the country must be registered with the FDD.
A complaint has been lodged with the Ministry of Health about the pharmaceutical company
