Bitter Pills:Medicines & The Third World Poor | Page 237

Chapter 6
13

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Platt, op.cit.
Ebrahim, op.cit.,p.l05.
Brudon, op.cit.
David Werner in interview with Adrian Moyes, OXFAM Public Affairs Unit, 30 June
1980.

14

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15

Solomon Agnew, Central Planning Office, Ethiopia, "Drug Business and its implication on
(he Development of Health Services in Ethiopia", part I paper presented at Institute of
Development Research Seminar on Strategies for Socialist Rural Transformation in Ethiopia,
Nazreth, 27-29 October 1978, p . l l . (mimeo)

16

British National Formulary 1981, Number 1, 1981, p.15.

17

Peter Parish, Professor of Clinical Pharmacy and Director of the Medicines Research Unit,
Cardiff, Medicines, Penguin, Third Edition, 1981, p. 18.

18

Sir John Butterfield, "Thecontributionof modern medicines", in George Teeling-Smith and
Nicholas Wells (ed). Medicines for the year 2000, Office of Health Economics, London, 1979,
p.30.

19

Milton Silverman and Mia Lydecker, "The Promotion of Prescription Drugs and other puzzles",
Pharmaceuticals and Health Policy, Blum, Herxheimer, Stenzl and Woodcock (ed), 1981,
p.85.

20

Pascale Brudon, "L'lndustrie Pharmaceutique Suisse dans les Pays Sous - developpes",
Memoire presente pour le diplome de recherche en etudes de developpement, Institut
Universitaire d'Etudes de Developpement, Geneva, 1981, p.192.

21

Ferguson, April 1980, op.cit., p.8.

22

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23

Purchased Cee-NU 4 October 1980. Black market price of 2 capsules Taka 350 (£9.72) - This
is only one of many prescription drugs that can be bought on the black market.

24

For example: "Widely divergent views and requirements of regulatory authorities often make
it impossible to maintain our international standard and therefore, when starting to compare
product information in different countries it is inevitable that deviations are noted ...
Unfortunately again, there are as far as medical standards are concerned, in many instances
no strict criteria as a result of transcultural differences.." (Dr T. Vossenaar, Organon, personal
communication, 23 April 1982.)
For example a conversation between participants at the Mario Negri Institute in Milan in June
1981 revealed the very different thinking over painkillers in Europe. In Britain aspirin and
paracetamol, are sold over the counter, but phenacetin and dipyrone have been removed from
the market. But dipyrone is widely used in W. Germany. Italy considers the risks of kidney
damage from phenacetin as less of a problem than the dangers of overdose of paracetemol.

25

Cee-NU British National Formulary 1981 op.cit., pp.213-214.
SCRIP No. 639(2 November 1981) p.ll and No. 670(24 February 1982) p.9.

26

WHO, Treatment and Prevention of Dehydration in Diarrhoeal Disease (A Guide for use at
the Primary Level), WHO, Geneva, 1976.

27

King, King and Martodipoero, Primary Child Care, A manual for health workers, Oxford
University Press, 1978, p. 129.

28

Ibid.

29

Both Ciba-Geigy and Searle agree there is a problem. Dr. Burley, Ciba-Geigy:" You are almost
certainly right about the unconsidered use of clioquinol in children, particularly young children
where diarrhoea needs to be treated with fluid replacement and proper food. I will look into
exactly what we say about the use of clioquinol in young children now. " (Personal
communication, 23 February 1982.) But Ciba's package insert (dated 21 December 1981),
forwarded by Dr. Burley on 12 March 1982, contains no warning about the importance of
oral rehydration in treating children. Package inserts for Searle's Lomotil purchased in Egypt

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