Experts warn against cheap cancer drugs from India  

揭秘山寨抗癌药：价格不足正品1/13 多来自印度

选择在实体店购买价格高、有批文的进口抗癌药，还是价格低廉、网络代购的外国抗癌药？这是许多癌症患者群体及其家属面临的两难选择。长沙市食药监部门日前提醒市民，根据药监部门既往查办案件取得的经验，网上代购境外抗癌药被证实多为假冒药品，网上代购抗癌药品采购渠道十分可疑，药品真假和质量毫无保证，建议有需求的消费者到实体店购买此类药品，以免贻误病情。 [查看全文]

(ECNS) -- Anticancer drugs from India have been consumed by many patients in China, but authorities warn that such drugs purchased online are likely fake, according to the Changsha Evening News.

A woman surnamed Wang said her mother, who's suffering from lung cancer, was a consumer of Iressa, a lung cancer-resistant drug produced in India, and that most of her mother's ward mates were also using it.

"The drugs we bought from the hospital cost about 17,000 yuan ($2,720) per month, while those from India cost a thirteenth of that," said Wang, who lives in Changsha.

Anticancer drugs sold in China's hospitals and pharmacies are mostly imported from the US and Europe. The drugs are the result of large sums of capital for research and development and are protected by patent, which contributes to their relatively high prices, according to Xiong Lixiang, an official at the Changsha Food and Drug Administration.

Free from R&D costs and patent limitations, drugs produced in India cost much less.

Yang Nong, a chief physician at the Hunan Cancer Hospital, said even though drugs from India are made according to the same principles as Western countries, they are very likely deficient because of poor production techniques.

Moreover, the Changsha food and drug department says that most overseas-purchased drugs have proven to be fake, and that their quality is not guaranteed.

The department suggests that consumers should buy imported drugs from authorized sources only.