Word: ceclorcd
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Your article "the goodwill pill Mess" [BUSINESS, April 29], about medicines that are given away to countries in need, implied that Eli Lilly & Co.'s donation of its antibiotic CeclorCD during the Rwandan refugee crisis was unwanted and not of use. Far from being unwanted, Lilly's 1994 antibiotic donation was specifically requested by the American Red Cross and other U.S. private voluntary organizations. And far from not being useful, cefaclor, the active ingredient in CeclorCD, has demonstrated its value in countries at all stages of economic development. It is the world's largest-selling oral antibiotic. Furthermore, the entire...
Well, sort of. The trouble is the gift was an antibiotic called CeclorCD, which is not on the World Health Organization's list of essential drugs for the treatment of refugees. Nor is it on the treatment schedules of any countries in central Africa. Because of the risk of causing resistance to more valuable drugs commonly used in the region, the leading relief group, Doctors Without Borders, says it would never prescribe such a medication in the camps. Even so, Lilly sent enough for 1.3 million people. Barrels containing 200,000 tablets each arrived in Rwanda, with only a handful...
...CeclorCD donation underscores what many aid workers consider a growing problem. Huge quantities of inappropriate and sometimes expired medicines and health pills are being sent to trouble spots from Bosnia to Burundi, tying up overstretched health staff and logistical resources and posing a risk to recipients who may take them for the wrong reasons or after they have begun to deteriorate. Donors include U.S. pharmaceutical companies that receive a substantial tax benefit in exchange for exporting unused stock, as well as pharmacies and individuals around the world who may not know any better...
...case of CeclorCD, Lilly spokesman Fritz Frommeyer insists that the company's impulse to do good was authentic. He concedes that the tablets were excess stock nearing expiration and that the tax benefits were "one facet" of the decision, but he adds, "We felt that it was the right thing to do." AmeriCares, one of the groups that distributed the medicine, was unaware that such large quantities of CeclorCD had been shipped through other agencies. Operations director Andrew Hannah acknowledges that the drug was not used "to the extent first anticipated" but argues that given the circumstances, the organization felt...
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