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- Glitch with the shadow: expensive cancer drugs are illegally sold in pharmacies in Moscow
Glitch with the shadow: expensive cancer drugs are illegally sold in pharmacies in Moscow
In Moscow, several pharmacies were suspected of illegally selling medicines for patients with cancer, diabetes and rare immune diseases, which should be given out free of charge in hospitals, Izvestia found out. According to the source of the publication, expensive drugs are available for purchase through online platforms. Some medicines are sold in foreign packaging, as they are not officially supplied to Russia. According to experts, "gray" markets exist due to the fact that people cannot always receive life-saving drugs officially. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
How "grey" pharmacies work in Moscow
Discounted medicines for patients with cancer, diabetes and rare immune diseases, intended for hospitals and inpatient facilities, are illegally sold in pharmacies in Moscow and through online platforms, Izvestia found out. Some medicines are offered for sale in foreign packaging, as they are not officially supplied to Russia.
— There are scuffs and damage on the boxes, if you try to check with an "Honest sign", then the QR code is not readable, - a source close to the pharmaceutical industry told Izvestia. — Medicines are available on some online platforms, where it is indicated which pharmacy can pick up the order. They are brought to the buyer from somewhere. The pharmacy does not confirm the legality of receiving such goods in any way. The reparations may be real, but they are allocated free of charge according to quotas, for example, for diabetics or cancer patients. If they got into pharmacies from hospitals, then it is illegal.
We are talking about the drugs "Tsiramza", "Lenvima", "Kstandi", "Enplate", "Zavitsefta", "Acellbia", "Tyverb", "Maviret", "Perjeta", "Ozempik", "Gaziva", "Ilaris", "Atgam" and others. All of them are expensive. For example, the price for one package of "Ilaris" varies from 200 thousand to 600 thousand rubles, "Gaziva" costs more than 160 thousand rubles, and "Atgam" — about 150 thousand.
— The "gray" suppliers set their price — very close to that stated by the main pharmacies, but cheaper. Since drugs are very expensive, as well as treatment in general, patients and their relatives are trying to save a little," the source explained. — Counterfeit medicines are becoming more and more freely available. People take a lot of risks, but they don't even realize it. This is an avalanche — the number of such cases is huge not only on the scale of Moscow, but also on the scale of the country.
Control purchase
Izvestia correspondents, disguised as ordinary customers, went to a pharmacy in Moscow near the Skhodnenskaya metro station for a test purchase. The pharmacists first, as expected, asked for a prescription, but then they still sold us the oncological drugs Tsirazma and Lenvima.
With the naked eye, it was clear that the QR code and the number assigned to each drug were erased on the package, as if manually. It was not possible to check the drugs through the mandatory "Honest Sign" system — this is a clear violation of labeling. When we presented these claims to the pharmacy staff, the pharmacists refused to return the money for the substandard product.
Izvestia employees called the police, and the "gray" batch of medicines was seized and will be checked by experts.
The editorial board appealed to the administration of the Asna online platform, where illegal drugs were booked. They replied: the company strictly checks pharmacies and products, but access to this seller has already been blocked.
"The request for the purchase of a product with a blurred barcode is sent to check the documents on the drug and the seller to the company's internal control service," the letter says. — It was also sent to the seller to provide explanations on the fact stated in the request. Until clarification and documentary evidence of the absence of a violation and confirmation of the authenticity of the product are received, the possibility of purchasing the drug from the specified seller is blocked on the company's website."
Suppliers, pharmacy employees, and those who forge "Honest Mark" codes may be involved in such schemes, believes Alexander Nosenko, head of the copyright protection center.
— It can be a relationship built up over the years between unscrupulous doctors and pharmacists who are looking for and buying medicines because they have applications for it. Unscrupulous pharmacies that engage in such activities understand what they are doing, and they understand the responsibility that may be imposed by law. This is their conscious choice," the expert is sure.
Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Health and Roszdravnadzor, indicating specific pharmacies where illegal trafficking was recorded.
What is the threat for the illegal sale of medicines
At the same time, cancer patients are often denied preferential medications. Pensioner Lilia Filyuk from the city of Balashov, Saratov region, has been unable to receive Giotrif medicine for lung cancer for several months — it is not available in local pharmacies.
— We were told that there were no purchases, there was no drug. What to do? Life flies by before my eyes. You look at the bubble and you see that it's 30 days of life," Viktor, the pensioner's son, told Izvestia.
In order not to interrupt the course, Lilia Filyuk had to travel 300 kilometers to a neighboring city to get a week's supply of medicines. The pensioner's relatives contacted the regional Ministry of Health, as well as the Investigative Committee and the prosecutor's office. After complaining, the woman was given two packages of the drug, but it will only last until June 2026.
Illegal sale of medicines can entail both administrative and criminal liability, Anton Pivovarov, a lawyer at the Moscow Sed Lex Bar Association, told Izvestia.
— If we are talking about the sale of unregistered drugs, counterfeit or trafficking without a license, it is possible to qualify under the criminal article "Sale of products that do not meet safety requirements," he said. — Pharmacy employees and suppliers, if they knew about the counterfeit, face imprisonment, heavy fines and a ban on professional activity. Online platforms that ignore obvious violations may be investigated as accomplices in a crime.
The market for counterfeit pharmaceutical products is growing in Russia, Yana Kovalevskaya, a lawyer at the Moscow Region Bar Association, told Izvestia.
— In addition, the list of prescription drugs is constantly being updated: a drug that could have been bought freely yesterday is now sold only by prescription. This also increases the market for counterfeit products," the expert noted. — The court may hold the pharmacy administratively liable. And the second echelon may be a civil lawsuit by the trademark owner for infringement of trademark and intellectual property rights.
When buying a drug, it is necessary to check the integrity of the packaging — the quality of the print, the barcode and the numbers on it, recommends Makka Saligova, a lawyer at the Moscow Region Bar Association. You can also check the packaging using the Honest Sign mobile application. Just point the camera at the QR code on the label or barcode, after which the application will provide information about the manufacturer of the product, the place and date of manufacture.
Patients go to "shadow" pharmacies due to lack of medicines
Not all discounted drugs sold at retail in pharmacies are considered counterfeit, Nikolai Bespalov, Director of Development at RNC Pharma, told Izvestia.
— There are both legal sellers and situations related to counterfeiting and "gray" schemes. Moreover, there is a whole stratum of pharmacy institutions that specializes in discounted medicines," he said. — Unfortunately, this does not come from a good life: there are interruptions in the provision of medicines, including medical and preventive institutions, and people are trying to purchase the drugs they need on the free market. Very often, these sellers cover up a serious layer of problems, so you can't cover them with just black paint.
However, the expert admitted that there are also "shadow" players on the pharmaceutical market who specialize in the resale of drugs that were previously released on benefits and, in fact, stolen. Then they enter the secondary market, into retail structures.
"Such precedents exist, primarily due to the fact that people cannot get the drug officially and are forced to look for "gray" resellers," he added. — We can single out a separate category of suppliers who sell counterfeit goods, since supplies of a specific product range to Russia have been discontinued in the official regime. For example, the same "Ozempik" that the company has withdrawn from the Russian market. Before the advent of domestic analogues of this drug, people massively turned to "shadow" sellers.
By taking illegally purchased medicines, the patient risks his life, warned Tatiana Golovchanskaya, a doctor at the Soft Medical Center clinic. According to her, at best, the counterfeit drug will turn out to be a "dummy", and at worst, it will lead to death.
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