Drugmaker warns that fake cancer drug is on the market

Feb 16 2012

The Wall Street Journal reports that the manufacturer of Avastin says it has found counterfeit vials of the drug in the United States.

The Wall Street Journal: Fake Cancer Drug Found in U.S.
The maker of the widely used Avastin cancer drug said Tuesday that it is warning doctors, hospitals and patient groups that a counterfeit version of the medicine has been found in the U.S. Tests of counterfeit vials of Avastin showed that they didn't contain the active ingredient in Roche Holding AG's intravenous drug, according to the Swiss company's Genentech unit. ... An FDA spokeswoman said it hasn't received any reports of patient side effects that appear to be linked to the counterfeit product (Rockoff and Weaver, 2/15).

Meanwhile, the FDA says that reports of a cancer drug shortage are being addressed.

USA Today: FDA: Shortage Of Kids' Cancer Drug Can Be Averted
The Food and Drug Administration has managed to avert a "crisis" for children with cancer by preventing a looming shortage of a lifesaving drug, officials announced Tuesday. The shortage of methotrexate -; a mainstay of treatment for kids with acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL) -; is the latest in a series of serious shortages of cancer medications and other drugs that have frustrated doctors and patients over the past year and a half (Szabo, 2/14).

WBUR's CommonHealth blog: Cancer Drug Shortage All Too Real For Some
Betsy Neisner of Northampton has survived a decade with ovarian cancer – half her daughter's life and long enough that her 17-year-old son doesn't remember her before she became a patient. ... Neisner is now faced with the shortage of the drug that has kept her cancer in check since last April. Doxil, which has worked well for her with minimal side effects, is being severely rationed after the single plant that manufactures it shut down late last year (Weintraub, 2/14).

The New York Times also reports on concerns about marketing of an artificial hip.

The New York Times: Hip Implants U.S. Rejected Sold Overseas
The health care products giant Johnson & Johnson continued to market an artificial hip in Europe and elsewhere overseas after the Food and Drug Administration rejected its sale in the United States based on a review of company safety studies. During that period, the company also continued to sell in this country a related model, which earlier went on the market using a regulatory loophole that did not require a similar safety review (Meier, 2/14).