Do not ignore! Please read! Adulterated drugs and Alcoholic Beverages in town!

After complaining of certain health issues, the physician made some prescriptions for Mrs. Bola Okunola. Among the drug list was blood tonic. She promptly took it to her trusted neighbourhood pharmacy. The superintendent pharmacist dispensed the drugs, with full explanations on how to use them.

Unknown to Okunola, the blood tonic was more of a poison. She narrates, "In less than 30 minutes after I ingested it, my entire body system went berserk. I developed diarrhoea and, at a point, I started feeling faint.

"My husband rushed me to the hospital, with the drugs in our hands. On presentation, the doctor singled out the blood tonic as the 'culprit,' saying it was counterfeit.

"He gave me further treatment which eased off the counterfeit drug's effects. Later, I took the blood tonic to the pharmacist. He was surprised, but he confirmed what the doctor had said. He apologised and gave me a replacement.

"He also said it sometimes happens that, in a pack of 20 bottles or packets of drugs, one may turn out to be a counterfeit and that, that was what happened in the case under review.

"I've always known that counterfeit drugs abound all over the place, and that's why I'm careful to buy my drugs in registered pharmacies. But now, I will be more careful."

Though Okunola is lucky to have remained alive, many people have not been so lucky, as they have been maimed or killed outright, after taking what was meant to relieve their symptoms.

The World Health Organisation defines a counterfeit medicine as one "which is deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity and/or source." This applies to both branded and generic products.

Those death-in-the-bottles/packs come in different hues. They may be products without active ingredients, representing 32.1 per cent of global fake pharmaceutical burden; they may have incorrect quantities of active ingredients (20.2 per cent); wrong ingredients (21.4 per cent), correct quantities of active ingredients but with fake packaging (15.6 per cent); copies of an original product (one per cent); or they may be products with high levels of impurities and contaminants (8.5 per cent).

The Director-General of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control, Dr. Paul Orhii, last Thursday, decried the activities of counterfeit drug manufacturers and importers when the agency paraded six suspects at its Lagos office, among whom was a trained pharmacist -- a middle-aged mother of four.

While NAFDAC has earned global commendation for reducing to five per cent the incidence of fake/counterfeit drugs in urban areas in Nigeria, the battle to save pharmaceutical products users from crooks is still intense in rural areas, where you have concentration of people with low level of education and poor means of livelihood.

What drugs are most likely to be counterfeited? Orhii answers, "They are drugs that are always in demand, and they include antimalarials, antibiotics, pain killers, HIV/AIDS medications, drugs for erectile dysfunction, cancer drugs, as well as medications for psychiatric issues."

Experts say using a counterfeit version of any drug could make you sicker, as it will not cure the ailment. Worse still, they warn, the drugs may be tainted with unconventional or some other dangerous ingredients and toxic compounds.

What are the likely ingredients in a counterfeit drug? Orhii proffers an answer, "They include heavy metals like mercury, aluminium, lead, cadmium, arsenic, chrome, uranium, strontium and selenium.

"Another is actual poison, such as polychlorinated biphenyl (aka PCB, which has been banned in U.S. since 1979), benzopyrenes, rat poison, boric acid, and anti-freeze.

"Others may be common household items like floor wax, paint thinner, and wall paint."

Pharmacists even say some of these concoctions are not drugs at all, as they are just a potpourri of dextrose, dextrin, lactose, starch, saline and salt.

Decrying this trend at an earlier media encounter, the Chairman, Lagos State

Chapter of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, Mr. Anieh Felix Anieh, says, "The result is that you are offered a drug you didn't ask for."

Lamenting the effects of fake drugs on users, he says, "They increase mortality and morbidity, engender drug resistance and loss of medicine efficacy, as well as loss of confidence in the health system and health workers."

He also says it leads to an economic loss for patients, their families, health system, and the producers/traders in good-quality medicines

Not only drugs are counterfeited; packaged foods, beers and wines (such as Red Label whisky, Johnny Walker, and Carlo Rossi) have joined the list, as evidenced by last week's interception of four trucks carrying suspected fake alcoholic beverages on the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.

Three of the trucks, belonging to Ejulo Investments Limited, contained 3,547 cartons of McDowell Reserved Whisky; while the fourth contained 3,300 cartons of Gino tomato paste, belonging to Mr. Tochukwu Eze of 5, Oworeaja Street, Obosi, Anambra State.

Mr. Nne Ikenna of 5, Arochukwu Street, Ejigbo, Lagos, specialises in the manufacture and packaging of counterfeit drugs that include Zentel (a worm expeller) tablets and Lincocin (an antibiotic) capsules.

When security operatives and NAFDAC officials invaded his firm, they not only found fake drugs worth N31.2m, they also impounded rolls of aluminium foil, as well as dry-ink coding machines used for blister packaging and labelling.

The most surprising case is that of Mrs. Mary Awoyinka, who claims to hold a B.Sc in Pharmacy from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, having graduated in 1996.

She is the superintendent pharmacist of Uchest Pharmaceuticals Ltd. located variously in 9, Ekwulummri St., Iyiowa Odekpe Layout, Ogbara; and Block 237, Niger Head Bridge Market, Onitsha, both in Anambra State.

Before her arrest, she helped her clients to use forged Pharmacist Council Annual Licence to import a container of Dexacee tablets, and also for the retention of premises.

NAFDAC also alleges that Mr. Maduabuchi Abuzu of 21, Ashogbon Street, Idumota, Lagos, is a member of a syndicate in China which specialises in faking antimalaria drugs like Amalar, Coartem, Maloxine and Ibuprofen. Goods seized from him were valued at N19.5m.

Orhii offers some comfort, though: approved drugs not only have NAFDAC registration numbers, they also have certain codes that can be texted to 38353 for instant verification of originality and safety.

Dana Air Crashes Fares

Dana Air has crashed fares on its Lagos-Abuja-Lagos route to N15,300, the airline said in a statement on Tuesday, as it tries to regain passengers confidence since resuming flight operations on 4 January.

The airline said passengers can fly one-way Economy Class on its Lagos-Abuja-Lagos route for as low as N15, 300 throughout the month of April.

“We decided to open up seats for sale at N15,300 throughout the month of April as a mark of appreciation to our loyal guests, and also to offer more guests the opportunity to experience our world-class services,” Dana’s Head of Commercial, Obi Mbanuzuo, was quoted as saying.

Mbanuzuo said passengers are encouraged to take advantage of the special offer and purchase their tickets online.

Dana Air operates ten flights daily on the Lagos-Abuja-Lagos route and plans are underway to commence operations to other major Nigerian cities, the airline said.

Asked if the low fares had anything to do with low patronage as passengers remain wary following the 3 June plane crash, Tony Usidamen, Dana’s Head – Corporate Communications, said patronage has been very good.

“Many times, we went with full capacity. Our aircraft have a capacity of about 140 passengers and it’s been good. We do five daily flights to Abuja and five daily flights to Lagos and it’s been very good,” Usidamen said.

“This is just a reward. The month of April is usually seen as the month of bloom. It’s a month of opening and it’s a way of rewarding loyalty. It has nothing to do with lack of passengers,” he added.

The same fares go for as high as N35,000 on economy class on other airlines.

Lagos Airport Robbery: I Got N.5m, Pastor Confesses

Pastor John Ibikunle of the Way of Joy Ministry, Lagos, who was arrested by the police in connection with the robbery at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos,  southwest Nigeria, has confessed that he was paid N500,000 by the robbers to administer oath on them.

Ibikunle was paraded with six other suspects and lots of ammunition  on Tuesday in Lagos, southwest Nigeria over the 13 March, 2013 robbery attack on the MMIA, which led to the killing of two policemen.

Ibikunle told P.M.NEWS that he  administered oath on the robbers and was paid N500, 000, saying that he was not at the airport when the robbery incident took place.

The father of four said he made a mistake and it was the handiwork of the devil for him to have joined the gang of robbers.

“I made a mistake to have joined them. I was paid N500,000. I don’t know how much was the overall money stolen at the airport. It is only the leader of the gang who is at large that knows.

“I know it is a sin to be involved in such a thing. I have confessed my sins to God. I regret this action. I am not the one that did the charm for them; I just administered oath on them,” he confessed.

The state Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, had said it was Ibikunle, the supposed pastor who prepared the charm for the robbers so that they would not be caught in the act of robbery.

The police recovered from the suspects five AK 47 rifles, four dynamites, 64 AK 47 magazines, all fully loaded with 30 rounds totaling 1,920 live ammunition, Toyota Siena Space Bus, with registration number BDG 918  AG, two locally made pistols, two masks and several charms.

Other suspects paraded were Atoba Adeniyi, Ibrahim Abdullahi, Kazeem Aderibigbe, Saheed Adekunle, Christian Joshua and Saheed Okunola.

Manko said all the suspects confessed to have carried out the robbery attack on the MMIA last month and series of other robbery incidents across the country, saying that the police would go after others  still at large.