Cuban health authorities warn about counterfeit drugs

Cuba's Regulatory Authority of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (Cecmed) warned about three counterfeit drugs circulating in the Caribbean country.

As for the counterfeit ketotifen -attributed to the manufacturer Stada- Cedmed points out that it comes from the informal market in Haiti.

The NCD identification number, unique for drugs registered in the United States, always printed on the label, is not found in the U.S. Directory, nor is the bar code in the corresponding international database.

Cecmed also circulated alerts on other counterfeit drugs in this month, such as clonazepam, a benzodiazepine indicated for some variants of epilepsy, and neurobion, which is prescribed for adults and patients over 14 years of age in deficiency states of vitamins B1, B6 and B12.

The reported products were attributed to the manufacturers Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc and Boehringer Ingelheim; they were also obtained on the informal market, mainly from Haiti as the country of origin.

In some cases, these drugs caused adverse reactions after administration, according to the source quoted by Granma newspaper.