CHIEF Medical Director (CMD), University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Professor Jesse Otegbayo, has said the hospital has set up an investigative panel to probe the case of buying fake thyroid treatment from the hospital.
He stated that the panel, headed by Professor Fatai Fehintola, a clinical pharmacologist and the dean of the Faculty of Basic Clinical Sciences at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, has commended the investigation into the case.
A social media user @ThetundeT, posted on X, “We found that the drugs we were buying for my wife’s thyroid treatment were fake. Fake bro! We dey treat illness over 2 years like mumu. Guess what? Na UCH Ibadan Pharmacy we dey buy from. There is no hope, walahi.”
We found out that drugs we were buying for my wife’s thyroid treatment were fake. FAKE bro! We Dey treat illness over 2 years like mumu.
Guess what? Na UCH Ibadan pharmacy we Dey buy from.
There is no hope Walahi. https://t.co/ac3u6EH58E
— Tunde (@ThetundeT) March 4, 2024
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The hospital while responding to the comment stated that already, the hospital had reached out through the social media platform to @ThetundeT to get more information and link up with the said patient on thyroid treatment.
Chairman, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Oyo State, Colonel Segun Ajanaku (retd), in a reaction, declared that fake pharmaceutical products are a global phenomenon and, as such, a genuinely pharmaceutical importer may fall victim to these cartels and bring in fake products unknowingly.
According to him, such pharmaceutical importers, thinking that they are genuine products, would not know until the distribution of such products got to the consumers and the resultant effects on the patients started manifesting, and by this time, many lives would have been negatively impacted.
He stated, “The truth of the matter is that buying a drug from UCH does not mean that it will be fake-free. The reason is that UCH buys from their suppliers too; therefore, they assume that whatever their suppliers give should be genuine and authentic.
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“The suppliers could have bought from either the importer or manufacturer, which makes drug traceability very easy and key in the prevention of fake and counterfeit drug products; however, this drug distribution process may have been distorted along the line by going to purchase them from markets like Agbeni and Idumota markets, where you may not be able to trace the sellers.”
Ajanaku said it is the responsibility of the patient taking a drug to report whether the drug is working well for his or her condition.
“When you take a drug for a maximum of a month, you should notice the effect, whether negative or positive. You are expected to go for a review, but when you get to the clinician who ought to review your case and you begin to tell him or her that you are feeling good, what do you expect the clinician to do other than tell you to continue with your medication?
“So, therefore, people must get involved in their treatment by always telling the truth to the clinician. We must educate ourselves not to be afraid of our doctor or pharmacist to tell him the way we are feeling about our treatment.
“Of course, the issue of fake and counterfeit drugs will need a multi-dimensional approach to resolving it.”
A medical expert who prefers not to be identified also said the patient needs to go back to discuss her situation with her doctor rather than assume that the medication is fake and not working, given that it takes two to three years to get some thyroid disorders properly treated.
“The ideal thing is for the patient to come and discuss with her doctor so that they can figure out exactly what the problem is, rather than take to social media to say the drug is fake; you must do an analysis of the medications.
“It is wrong to go to social media and say the drug is a fake one, and you end up misleading thousands of people not to use their drugs. It is not right.
“Sometimes, these patients don’t use their drugs regularly because it is a long-term treatment, and they will now feel that the drug does not work. Let her be sincere enough to go back to see her doctor.”