Drugs and vaccines have played a crucial role in increasing dramatically the average life span of humans all over the world since the beginning of the last century. However, there are problems—often, though not always—created by vested interests or by ignorance of their use. They range from the sale of sub-standard or obsolete formulations to unethical nexus between pharmaceutical companies at one level and commercial health care establishments on the other. This article lists some of these problems which get magnified in the prevailing circumstance of a burgeoning profit-driven private health sector and inadequate and ineffective regulatory framework.
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