Indian industry decries smear campaign against its pharma exporters

The India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), on behalf of the government of India, has taken strong objection to a smear campaign being orchestrated by the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute (AEI) against the whole Indian pharmaceutical industry.

It seems that the effort is to tarnish the image of the Indian pharma industry which it has painstakingly developed over the years and is often recognized as “Pharmacy of the World,” says the IBEF, a trust established by the Indian Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

In the latest instance, AEI has published the findings of a “study” as a working paper in the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Paper series (available at: http://www.aei.org/article/health/global-health/india-must-fix-its-drug-quality-problem/). The study has not been reviewed by any of the authors’ peers, as is the gold standard in serious academic publishing, says the IBEF. The study cites anecdotal evidence and hearsay, quoted earlier in the author’s other publications, as facts with established academic provenance. Cleverly, the board of NBER distances itself from the contents of the report; yet parts are being reproduced under NBER’s name to give it credibility which is completely being otherwise, says the IBEF.

The study claims to assess “the quality of 1,470 antibiotic and tuberculosis drug samples that claim to be made in India and were sold in Africa, India, and five mid-income non-African countries” based on samples “from pharmacies in 22 cities of 18 low- to mid-income countries between 2009 and 2012.” The conclusions of the study are disputed not only for methodology and ethics but also for the poor treatment of data sampling used.