Doctor: Counterfeit drugs are poisonous traps, especially for children and the elderly

(Dan Tri) - In just 4 years, Nguyen Tien Dat and his accomplices produced and branded a large quantity of fake drugs and then smuggled them to provinces and cities across the country, illegally earning nearly 200 billion VND.

The list of fake drugs that Thanh Hoa Provincial Police seized in the case of Nguyen Tien Dat and his accomplices just announced includes many familiar drug names: Tetracycline, Clorocid, Neo-Codion... and a series of bone and joint drugs advertised as imported drugs, with eye-catching packaging, labeled as companies in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore.

Police force checks counterfeit drugs (Photo: Thanh Hoa Police).

What is worrying is that these drugs are mainly consumed through social networks, free drug markets or sold directly to people, without a doctor's prescription.

The patient lost the chance to live.

Speaking with Dan Tri , Master, Doctor Doan Du Manh, a member of the Vietnam Vascular Disease Association, affirmed: "Using fake drugs is a dangerous behavior that is no different from 'gambling' with your own health and life."

According to Dr. Manh, one of the biggest dangers of counterfeit drugs is hiding real symptoms, delaying proper diagnosis and treatment, causing the disease to progress silently, leading to unpredictable complications.

MSc. Dr. Doan Du Manh, member of Vietnam Vascular Disease Association (Photo: Provided by Doctor).

Especially in chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, bone and joint disease, etc., the consequences can be more serious if the patient is subjective or believes in "hand-carried foreign medicine" or "family medicine".

For example, patients with high blood pressure or heart failure who take counterfeit drugs can worsen their heart failure or blood pressure, leading to life-threatening strokes.

"Patients think they are being treated, but in fact there is no active ingredient. During that time, the disease progresses silently, and damage to tissue, muscles, and joints continues to increase. By the time they return to the hospital, the condition is already in the late stages, making it difficult to treat," Dr. Manh informed.

Not only that, many counterfeit drugs are hand-made, mixed with herbs of unknown origin, industrial pigments, and even contain heavy metals such as lead and mercury.

Some types of drugs in the fake drug ring (Photo: Thanh Hoa Police).

If accumulated for a long time, these substances can cause liver toxicity, kidney failure, digestive disorders, neurological disorders and vascular damage - consequences that do not stop at the treatment effect, but directly affect the user's entire body.

From the list of fake drugs seized by Thanh Hoa Police, Dr. Manh was particularly interested in the group of drugs for treating bone and joint diseases, which are very popular among the elderly community in Vietnam.

According to Dr. Manh, fake bone and joint medications are often mixed with high doses of corticosteroids to quickly reduce symptoms. However, this will cause complications in the elderly such as adrenal insufficiency, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart failure... which are extremely dangerous.

"The danger is that these products hit the psychology of the elderly: fear of side effects, reluctance to long-term treatment, lack of medical knowledge, so they are easily manipulated by miraculous advertisements," Dr. Manh analyzed.

Media channels and hospitals have warned that many elderly patients have been hospitalized with joint deformities, severe degeneration, and avascular necrosis of bone due to abandoning treatment and switching to "traditional" or "hand-carried" medicine for months.

What these patients have in common is that they all bought medicine online or at small pharmacies, without invoices, without Vietnamese labels, and without knowing the importer.

What worries Dr. Manh the most is that there are cases where the drug does not cause obvious side effects, the patient still feels "less pain" thanks to the psychological effect, while the real damage continues to silently progress.

Counterfeit Chlorocide and Tetracycline: Double Danger

Among the counterfeit drugs, Clorocid (chloramphenicol) and Tetracycline are both common antibiotics in the treatment of bacterial infections, especially in children and the elderly. However, if counterfeit drugs are used, the consequences can be beyond imagination.

Dr. Le Van Thieu, Department of General Infection, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, affirmed: "Fake antibiotics are one of the reasons why initial infections are not controlled, leading to serious complications such as sepsis, widespread infection, and even death."

BSCKI Le Van Thieu, Department of General Infection, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases (Photo: Quang Truong).

According to Dr. Thieu, Tetracycline is one of the common antibiotics used to treat skin, urinary, and respiratory infections.

When patients use fake Tetracycline - meaning it does not have active antibiotic ingredients, or contains impurities - the bacteria will not be destroyed but will continue to grow strongly.

"Uncontrolled bacteria will multiply rapidly, spreading to the blood, lungs or internal organs. That is when sepsis occurs. A very dangerous condition, with a high mortality rate if not treated promptly.

It is worth mentioning that the patient still thought he was taking medication, so he did not go to the doctor early. By the time he got to the hospital, it was too late," Dr. Thieu analyzed.

Clorocid, an antibiotic widely used to treat respiratory illnesses in children, is also on the list of counterfeit drugs.

Dr. Thieu emphasized that if Clorocid is used incorrectly, it has the potential to cause bone marrow failure, but if it is a counterfeit drug, the risk is even more serious because the ingredients, dosage, or chemical origin cannot be controlled.

"For children with pneumonia, meningitis or sepsis, using fake antibiotics completely eliminates their chance of survival," Dr. Thieu emphasized.

Dr. Thieu warned that the habit of using antibiotics by "word of mouth" or "buying from friends", combined with the appearance of fake drugs on the market, is creating a "dangerous spiral": People self-treat - the disease does not go away - gets worse - is hospitalized in critical condition.

The elderly and children are the biggest victims.

Unlike prescription drugs that are only sold at hospitals or large pharmacies, bone and joint drugs are often freely available and do not require a doctor's prescription. This makes it easier for counterfeit drugs to sneak into family medicine cabinets.

According to experts, the elderly are the group at highest risk because:

- Lack of ability to distinguish between real and fake drugs.

- Easy to believe in advertising.

- Afraid to go to the hospital for a check-up because of the inconvenience or cost.

- There are many underlying diseases that make the consequences of using fake drugs more serious.

A counterfeit pill is more than just a product of commercial fraud. It is a poisonous trap that deceives patients, robs them of the chance to live a healthy life, and undermines professional treatment efforts.

Faced with the widespread availability of counterfeit drugs, health experts advise people to:

- Only buy medicine from reputable pharmacies with pharmacist advice.

- Do not use "hand-carried" drugs of unknown origin or products advertised on the internet.

- Always keep the medicine box, label, and invoice for comparison in case of any abnormalities.

- Do not stop or change your doctor's prescription without permission.

List of counterfeit drugs seized by police:

44 boxes of Tetracycline

40 boxes of Clorocid

49 Pharcoter boxes

52 boxes of Neo-Codion

1,232 boxes of Joint Pain and Numbness Complete

4,122 boxes of Tui Hua Shen Jing Tong (commonly known as Singaporean degenerative medicine)

2,285 boxes of Cordyceps ginseng velvet antler spleen tonic and appetite stimulant great tonic pills

1,923 boxes of Professor's Pill (commonly known as "green joints")

5,172 boxes of Mujarhabat Kapsul (also commonly known as "green joints")

2,017 boxes of Gai cot hoan

930 boxes of Toa Cot Thien Ma Thong Phong Hoan

6,612 boxes of Snow Lotus Heavenly Demon Treasure Joint Pills

1,014 boxes of White Snake King Anti-Aging Medicine

4,743 boxes of Phong Te Dau Ho Cot Hoan

845 boxes of Multi-sinus nasal

4,012 boxes of Neck and Shoulder Pills

2,413 boxes of Yuan Bone

834 boxes of Thoai Cot Hoan Plus

515 boxes of Joint Degeneration Plus

657 boxes of Toa Cot Dong

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/bac-si-thuoc-gia-la-bay-doc-dac-biet-doi-voi-tre-em-va-nguoi-gia-20250418074749903.htm