Source: Correio Braziliense - DF - BRAZIL - 03/09/2009

Parliamentarians will meet to nominate members of the CPI to investigate the illegal market for medicines and health equipment The request of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on the Counterfeiting of Medicines and Medical Equipment was read yesterday at the Senate Plenary. In the coming days, party leaders will meet to nominate the members of the working group that will investigate the clandestine market for the production and distribution of fake products throughout the national territory. President of the health subcommittee, Senator Augusto Botelho (PT-RR) believes that the committee is the only hope to prevent this crime from spreading throughout the country. We have to debate the matter. It is a very serious thing that is killing Brazilians, he says. Whoever buys is looking for a cure, he adds. For the senator, it is important to investigate facts, as was done in the CPI of Prostitution, because society itself is in charge of denouncing and showing where the irregularities are.

Victims of these criminal organizations celebrate the initiative of the House. Their stories must be analyzed by senators. Gauchos Denise Medeiros and Paulo Roberto Vianna, who were hostages to the prosthesis and orthosis mafia in Rio Grande do Sul. The group manufactured and sold medical products of terrible quality. Vianna hopes that congressmen, especially doctors, will work hard to prevent cases like his from recurring. Paulo had a hernia surgery and the screws were of poor quality and caused him problems with mobility and chronic pain.

The CPI will consist of 11 senators and seven alternates, will operate for a period of 180 days and has an expense limit of R $ 50 thousand. Author of the request for the creation of the CPI, Senator Romeu Tuma (PTB-SP) cited the complaints published in August in the Correio Braziliense / Estado de Minas to justify the investigations. Since the beginning of the year, the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) has seized 313 thousand kilos of fake medicines.

Cigarette

The Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Commission (CCJ) yesterday approved a proposal to amend the Penal Code and make counterfeiting, adulteration or cigarette making a crime. Bill 220/08, by Senator Romero Jucá (PMDB-RR), provides for imprisonment from one to five years, in addition to a fine. According to the parliamentarian, more than 25 billion illegal cigarettes are sold in the country. The shipments come mainly from Paraguay, where 28 cigarette factories are installed. The mafia finances drug trafficking and the smuggling of other products, says the senator.