Substandard drugs endangering health across the world

Substandard medications are available in countries across the world, researchers have warned. As the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk reports, heart experts looked at samples of a clot-busting drug sold in countries outside the European Union. Testing found only three out of 16 samples tested met minimum EU requirements. Writing in the European Heart Journal, the researchers warned that more global awareness of the problem of substandard drugs was needed. According to the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), a strict system of checks ensure that drugs marketed to the NHS met certain standards. Although counterfeit drugs do occasionally come to light, they tend to be of more saleable products such as Viagra.