Black market medications represent a growing problem

By Elizabeth Ferguson
CNNExpansión.com

The Mexican pharmaceutical industry in 2009 has faced an increase in demand for drugs, while contending at the same time with a rise in medications sold on the black market.

Counterfeiting, theft and illegal sales of samples make up a market of about $2 billion in Mexico annually, according to Guillaume Corpart, Manuel D'Andrea and Enrique Orellana, researchers at the consulting company Kroll.

"It's a problem that has always existed, but now all eyes are on the pharmaceutical market and the magnitude of viruses such as influenza," said Sergio Garcilazo, research coordinator at the Universidad Panamericana's School of Economics and Business Administration.

Mexico's pharmaceutical market is valued at $15.5 billion, of which 12 percent is sold on the informal market, according to Kroll.

During the peak of last year's flu outbreak, smuggled drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza, suddenly appeared on the black market, when the real medications were being dispensed only through the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS).

"Organized crime often focuses on products whose sale is restricted to the market, such as psychotropic drugs or high-demand products," said researchers at Gartner.

www.cnnexpansion.com/negocios/2009/12/16/el-mercado-negro-reta-a-farmaceuticas