Here's a trivia question for film buffs out there-- Harry Lime was accused of what crime?
Time's up. It was selling counterfeit penicillin. The drug was still relatively knew when Graham Greene wrote his novel and was a potent anti-biotic for many illnesses. When caught by the gendarmes, Harry would have been tried and sentenced to death because he was responsible for the deaths of dozens in a meningitis outbreak.
Today, the problem of counterfeit medicines is still with us. We're not talking about generics or knock-off drugs. No, we're talking about pills being 100% flour, or worse, containing parasites.
Smithsonian Magazine writes about "The Fatal Consequences of Counterfeit Drugs." And the story is scary. Malaria is rampant in southeast Asia, and many people fall prey to the disease each year. Prior drugs are no longer working, but a new one, China's "Artesunate," is very effective but is a little pricey--not for us in the States but for people there.
Crooks have found a way to duplicate the look of the pill, and pharmacists are often without the means of knowing if the drug they are selling is the real thing or not.
In the meantime, read the magazine article, and learn what's happening on the other side of the world. Harry Lime gets his in the end, maybe the new Harrys will get theirs.
Well, that's what I have to say.
Stephen M. Flatow
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