Majority of cancer patients not affected by counterfeit drugs, minister says

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

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Patients receiving their drugs through “normal” channels won’t have a problem in their treatment, Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu has said, speaking on a TV program after a counterfeit drug gang revealed by police.

“If patients received their drugs through the normal channels, 99.9 percent of them won’t have any problems. But if they take the drugs from people who offered to find them for them, then they should apply to our ministry,” Müezzinoğlu told private broadcaster CNN Türk on Dec. 11.

His remarks came a day after Istanbul police raided an organized crime gang that had been selling counterfeit cancer drugs in Turkey and abroad. Around 60 people were detained in the simultaneous raids across the country.

Meanwhile, Müezzinoğlu also said they would introduce “flexible” drug prices next year, particularly for those drugs that are scarce in Turkey.

“We will overcome such problems with flexible price practices that we will introduce next year,” he said.

He also criticized some circles in the drugs sector for creating a scarcity of cheap drugs to force the government to increase their prices.