Experts warn against cheap cancer drugs from India  

揭秘山寨抗癌藥：價格不足正品1/13 多來自印度

選擇在實體店購買價格高、有批文的進口抗癌藥，還是價格低廉、網絡代購的外國抗癌藥？這是許多癌癥患者群體及其家屬面臨的兩難選擇。長沙市食藥監部門日前提醒市民，根據藥監部門既往查辦案件取得的經驗，網上代購境外抗癌藥被證實多為假冒藥品，網上代購抗癌藥品采購渠道十分可疑，藥品真假和質量毫無保證，建議有需求的消費者到實體店購買此類藥品，以免貽誤病情。 [查看全文]

(ECNS) -- Anticancer drugs from India have been consumed by many patients in China, but authorities warn that such drugs purchased online are likely fake, according to the Changsha Evening News.

A woman surnamed Wang said her mother, who's suffering from lung cancer, was a consumer of Iressa, a lung cancer-resistant drug produced in India, and that most of her mother's ward mates were also using it.

"The drugs we bought from the hospital cost about 17,000 yuan ($2,720) per month, while those from India cost a thirteenth of that," said Wang, who lives in Changsha.

Anticancer drugs sold in China's hospitals and pharmacies are mostly imported from the US and Europe. The drugs are the result of large sums of capital for research and development and are protected by patent, which contributes to their relatively high prices, according to Xiong Lixiang, an official at the Changsha Food and Drug Administration.

Free from R&D costs and patent limitations, drugs produced in India cost much less.

Yang Nong, a chief physician at the Hunan Cancer Hospital, said even though drugs from India are made according to the same principles as Western countries, they are very likely deficient because of poor production techniques.

Moreover, the Changsha food and drug department says that most overseas-purchased drugs have proven to be fake, and that their quality is not guaranteed.

The department suggests that consumers should buy imported drugs from authorized sources only.