Authorities in Brazil have seized counterfeit versions of two Schering-Plough drugs that are popular among bodybuilders.
The country's National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) says enforcement officers seized and destroyed three lots of counterfeit Schering-Plough products. According to SecuringPharma, the counterfeits were two lots of Schering-Plough's Deca-Durabolin and one lot of hormone-based therapy Durateston, which is made by its subsidiary Organon.
SecuringPharma says Schering-Plough confirmed that it had not manufactured the products and that the lot numbers on the packaging didn't match numbers it uses on its own products. It also noted that one lot of Deca-Durabolin drugs seized was labeled as being 250 mg, which is not a formulation Schering-Plough makes.
Durateston is a testosterone product and Deca-Durabolin is used to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. Both promote muscle growth and are frequently sought out by bodybuilders.
The seizures of counterfeits have been on the rise around the world. The European Union recently reported an enormous increase in counterfeit drugs, many of them coming out of China. China recently announced that it had rounded up nearly 2,000 drug counterfeiting suspects and destroyed 1,100 production plants. The U.S., meanwhile, has arrested and prosecuted a number of counterfeiters.
- read the SecuringPharma story
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