Cancer Calculus, an investigation by The Indian Express in association with The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), found a burgeoning black market in India of Keytruda -- -- an immunotherapy drug manufactured by US pharma major Merck & Co (MSD) that most families cannot afford at an official market price of over Rs 1.5 lakh for a 100 mg vial. We found that this counterfeit market was being fuelled by lack of access to the topline drug for most patients, and use of standardised high dosing that increases costs. It found hospital-level breaches and insider involvement, glaring loopholes in the system and how police investigators have unearthed evidence linking hospital staff to the counterfeit supply. The investigation is based on the scrutiny of more than 12,500 pages of police and hospital records, supplemented by interviews with over several hospital staff members, including oncologists. We accessed individual patient data, as well as the history of each vial of Keytruda administered to them, and matched it with the unique batch codes of the the cancer drug seized from the accused, to map how and to what extent these vials have been sourced from hospitals and then sold in the counterfeit market. READ THE FULL STORY HERE |
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