According to Mikhail Zurabov, the Russian Health and Social Protection Minister, the number of counterfeit drugs has "significantly" decreased, and now amounts to 3-4% of the Russian drug market. Mr. Zurabov relayed this information at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin earlier this week.
Most international organizations put the rate of counterfeits in the Russian health care system at 12%. Reducing this exposure to 3-4% is an exaggeration of truly Soviet agitprop proportions.
How did the Comrade Minister accomplish such a feat? Why he changed the law! (And we all know how much the Russian Mafia believes in the rule of law.)
Mr. Zurbov commented, "The penalties for such drugs has been defined and the decision was made to revoke the license of a company producing counterfeit drugs.â€
That’s right, they reduced counterfeit medicines almost entirely by threatening to “revoke†the license of counterfeiters.
Surprisingly, the Minister neglected to mention the number of "licenses revoked," people arrested, or counterfeit medicines seized (and to reduce the Russion national volume from 12% to 3% there must have been quite a lot.) Maybe he's just really modest.
In any event, now that Russian drugs are so safe, maybe we should introduce legislation to allow importation into the US market.
Most international organizations put the rate of counterfeits in the Russian health care system at 12%. Reducing this exposure to 3-4% is an exaggeration of truly Soviet agitprop proportions.
How did the Comrade Minister accomplish such a feat? Why he changed the law! (And we all know how much the Russian Mafia believes in the rule of law.)
Mr. Zurbov commented, "The penalties for such drugs has been defined and the decision was made to revoke the license of a company producing counterfeit drugs.â€
That’s right, they reduced counterfeit medicines almost entirely by threatening to “revoke†the license of counterfeiters.
Surprisingly, the Minister neglected to mention the number of "licenses revoked," people arrested, or counterfeit medicines seized (and to reduce the Russion national volume from 12% to 3% there must have been quite a lot.) Maybe he's just really modest.
In any event, now that Russian drugs are so safe, maybe we should introduce legislation to allow importation into the US market.
