The Department of Health has issued an emergency warning to regional health bureaus across the nation, asking them to be on the lookout for counterfeit drugs that are believed to have made it onto the market from a Chiayi County drug counterfeiting operation.
A operation by the National Police Agency (NPA) on Saturday uncovered a counterfeit drug ring based in the county's Taibao Township (
Counterfeit versions of many popular drugs were found, including Losec, Panadol and the "morning after" medication Norlevo.
Fake dietary supplements and ointments were also discovered, including glucosamine pills and tiger balm.
The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) reported that more than 2 million counterfeit pills from China were also found by police officers during the raid. Officers also uncovered a large amount of packaging to be used to pass off the pills as legitimate medication.
The main suspect in the case, Lo Wen-feng (
Last month, Lo supplied God's Heart Hospital in Chiayi with counterfeit versions of the blood-pressure medication Norvasc, affecting more than 200 patients there.
Lo has been sentenced to 20 years and 10 months on two charges of selling counterfeit drugs, but was granted bail pending a final verdict, the United Evening News reported yesterday.
The Liberty Times quoted prosecutors on the case as saying that Lo, 61, has long worked in pharmaceutical sales and had an established network of contacts. After his release, Lo had resumed importing counterfeit drugs and that his operations were monitored by police until the raid on Saturday.
Lo imported pills in bulk from China to be packaged in Taiwan, the Liberty Times reported. The packaging used on the fakes can be difficult to distinguish from the real thing.
The public can go online to the department's drug identification Web site at www.doh.gov.tw/cht/medicine.htm for file pictures of the real packages.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS