Just 10 years ago, Purdue Pharmaceutical’s overseas division was paying Nigerian pop stars and elite footballers to market OxyContin in tv commercials. Same in Brazil. And not marketed as a carefully prescribed & monitored post-surgical painkiller but more like a post-exercise elixir. Famous Brazilian footballer in a locker room after a grueling match says basically, “When I have aches and pains, I turn to OxyContin for relief.” The Sackler family is the modern Pablo Escoba
A recent BBC Eye investigation has uncovered that Aveo Pharmaceuticals, a Mumbai-based company, is a significant contributor to the opioid crisis in West Africa. The company manufactures unlicensed and highly addictive opioids, notably a combination of tapentadol, a potent painkiller, and carisoprodol, a muscle relaxant banned in Europe due to its addictive properties. These drugs are packaged under various brand names, such as Tafrodol, TimaKing, and Super Royal-225, and are illegally exported to countries including Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire. On the streets of these nations, the pills are sold cheaply, leading to widespread abuse among young people and resulting in severe health crises, including addiction, overdoses, and fatalities.
Undercover footage from the investigation shows Vinod Sharma, a director at Aveo Pharmaceuticals, acknowledging the harmful effects of these drugs but justifying their production as a business decision. Despite the clear health risks, Aveo continues to produce and export these unlicensed medications, exacerbating the public health crisis in West Africa.
In response to the growing epidemic, local communities are taking action. For instance, in Tamale, northern Ghana, community leader Alhassan Maham has organized a task force of citizens dedicated to raiding drug dealers and removing these dangerous pills from the streets. However, the scale of the problem requires more extensive intervention from both national governments and international regulatory bodies to halt the illegal production and distribution of these opioids.
The Indian drugs regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), has stated its commitment to investigating and taking action against pharmaceutical firms involved in such malpractice. They emphasize the need for importing countries to strengthen their regulatory systems to support these efforts.
This situation highlights the urgent need for coordinated international efforts to combat the illegal opioid trade and address the resulting public health emergencies in affected regions.
