Patients warned over fake cancer drugs

Thousands of cancer-suffers have been warned to take extra care with their medication after it was discovered that a counterfeit batch of drugs had entered the supply chain.

The drug affected is a hormone treatment called Casodex which is used mainly to treat prostate cancers.

In the faked products levels of the medication’s active ingredient, bicalutamide, were revealed to be only 75% of the level claimed on the packaging, although there is no evidence of patients suffering any adverse reactions relating to them.

Around 12,000 people in the U.K are regular users of Casodex which is made by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

A recall of the affected batch, number 65520, has begun and the case has prompted the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to launch an investigation into how the rogue treatment came to be distributed.

The Times newspaper reports that the wholesaler linked to the batch has had his licence removed with immediate effect and a police probe into possible connections between the discovery and international criminal networks has also swung into action.

Gangs based in China, Pakistan and India, attracted by the huge profits to be made, are alleged to have targeted the market for drugs to treat critical conditions.

In the past week similar scares have been caused by counterfeit versions of a schizophrenia drug and a blood-thinning agent.