Death Penalty for Manufacture and Sale of Counterfeit Drugs - India

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 21 Dec 2003 - 0:00 PDT

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India's cabinet has approved the death penalty for people who manufacture and sell counterfeit drugs. This is still a bill and will become law if/when parliament approves this bill.

Health Minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters in New Delhi Thursday the manufacture and sale of counterfeit drugs is a serious crime committed purely for profit making and as such does not deserve any leniency.

The decision follows a recommendation by a panel of experts that urged the government to increase the punishment for makers and sellers of fake medicines from life in prison to the death penalty.

Fake drugs kill a number of people each year in India and rob legitimate pharmaceutical companies of millions of dollars.

Typically, the fake drugs are made without the correct ingredients and present a considerable danger to unsuspecting consumers.