HEALTH NEWS:What adulterated drugs can do to you

After complaining of certain health issues, the physician made some prescriptions for Mrs. Bola Okunola. Among the drug list was blood tonic. She promptly took it to her trusted neighbourhood pharmacy. The superintendent pharmacist dispensed the drugs, with full explanations on how to use them.

Unknown to Okunola, the blood tonic was more of a poison. She narrates, "In less than 30 minutes after I ingested it, my entire body system went berserk. I developed diarrhoea and, at a point, I started feeling faint.

"My husband rushed me to the hospital, with the drugs in our hands. On presentation, the doctor singled out the blood tonic as the 'culprit,' saying it was counterfeit.

"He gave me further treatment which eased off the counterfeit drug's effects. Later, I took the blood tonic to the pharmacist. He was surprised, but he confirmed what the doctor had said. He apologised and gave me a replacement.

"He also said it sometimes happens that, in a pack of 20 bottles or packets of drugs, one may turn out to be a counterfeit and that, that was what happened in the case under review.

"I've always known that counterfeit drugs abound all over the place, and that's why I'm careful to buy my drugs in registered pharmacies. But now, I will be more careful."

Though Okunola is lucky to have remained alive, many people have not been so lucky, as they have been maimed or killed outright, after taking what was meant to relieve their symptoms.

The World Health Organisation defines a counterfeit medicine as one "which is deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity and/or source." This applies to both branded and generic products.

Those death-in-the-bottles/packs come in different hues. They may be products without active ingredients, representing 32.1 per cent of global fake pharmaceutical burden; they may have incorrect quantities of active ingredients (20.2 per cent); wrong ingredients (21.4 per cent), correct quantities of active ingredients but with fake packaging (15.6 per cent); copies of an original product (one per cent); or they may be products with high levels of impurities and contaminants (8.5 per cent).

The Director-General of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control, Dr. Paul Orhii, last Thursday, decried the activities of counterfeit drug manufacturers and importers when the agency paraded six suspects at its Lagos office, among whom was a trained pharmacist -- a middle-aged mother of four.

While NAFDAC has earned global commendation for reducing to five per cent the incidence of fake/counterfeit drugs in urban areas in Nigeria, the battle to save pharmaceutical products users from crooks is still intense in rural areas, where you have concentration of people with low level of education and poor means of livelihood.

What drugs are most likely to be counterfeited? Orhii answers, "They are drugs that are always in demand, and they include antimalarials, antibiotics, pain killers, HIV/AIDS medications, drugs for erectile dysfunction, cancer drugs, as well as medications for psychiatric issues."

Experts say using a counterfeit version of any drug could make you sicker, as it will not cure the ailment. Worse still, they warn, the drugs may be tainted with unconventional or some other dangerous ingredients and toxic compounds.

What are the likely ingredients in a counterfeit drug? Orhii proffers an answer, "They include heavy metals like mercury, aluminium, lead, cadmium, arsenic, chrome, uranium, strontium and selenium.

"Another is actual poison, such as polychlorinated biphenyl (aka PCB, which has been banned in U.S. since 1979), benzopyrenes, rat poison, boric acid, and anti-freeze.

"Others may be common household items like floor wax, paint thinner, and wall paint."

Pharmacists even say some of these concoctions are not drugs at all, as they are just a potpourri of dextrose, dextrin, lactose, starch, saline and salt.

Decrying this trend at an earlier media encounter, the Chairman, Lagos State

Chapter of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, Mr. Anieh Felix Anieh, says, "The result is that you are offered a drug you didn't ask for."

Lamenting the effects of fake drugs on users, he says, "They increase mortality and morbidity, engender drug resistance and loss of medicine efficacy, as well as loss of confidence in the health system and health workers."

He also says it leads to an economic loss for patients, their families, health system, and the producers/traders in good-quality medicines

Not only drugs are counterfeited; packaged foods, beers and wines (such as Red Label whisky, Johnny Walker, and Carlo Rossi) have joined the list, as evidenced by last week's interception of four trucks carrying suspected fake alcoholic beverages on the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.

Three of the trucks, belonging to Ejulo Investments Limited, contained 3,547 cartons of McDowell Reserved Whisky; while the fourth contained 3,300 cartons of Gino tomato paste, belonging to Mr. Tochukwu Eze of 5, Oworeaja Street, Obosi, Anambra State.

Mr. Nne Ikenna of 5, Arochukwu Street, Ejigbo, Lagos, specialises in the manufacture and packaging of counterfeit drugs that include Zentel (a worm expeller) tablets and Lincocin (an antibiotic) capsules.

When security operatives and NAFDAC officials invaded his firm, they not only found fake drugs worth N31.2m, they also impounded rolls of aluminium foil, as well as dry-ink coding machines used for blister packaging and labelling.

The most surprising case is that of Mrs. Mary Awoyinka, who claims to hold a B.Sc in Pharmacy from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, having graduated in 1996.

She is the superintendent pharmacist of Uchest Pharmaceuticals Ltd. located variously in 9, Ekwulummri  St., Iyiowa Odekpe Layout, Ogbara; and Block 237, Niger Head Bridge Market, Onitsha, both in Anambra State.

Before her arrest, she helped her clients to use forged Pharmacist Council Annual Licence to import a container of Dexacee tablets, and also for the retention of premises.

NAFDAC also alleges that Mr. Maduabuchi Abuzu of 21, Ashogbon Street, Idumota, Lagos, is a member of a syndicate in China which specialises in faking antimalaria drugs like Amalar, Coartem, Maloxine and Ibuprofen. Goods seized from him were valued at N19.5m.

Orhii offers some comfort, though: approved drugs not only have NAFDAC registration numbers, they also have certain codes that can be texted to 38353 for instant verification of originality and safety.

FACEBOOK SET TO START CHARGING FOR SENDING MESSAGES

Facebook is to charge users up to £10 a time to contact people outside of their friends' network. 



The social networking site is likely to charge between 70p and £10 to message people who are not "friends" - with the top price reserved for contacting celebrities. 

Facebook says it is introducing the payments to prevent spam being sent to users of the network. 

However, some analysts fear that it marks the start of what will become a more entrenched payment scheme for the social media site. 

At present, users can message anyone who uses the website for free. However, messages to non-friends go to the "other" email box and are treated as spam. 

But these latest changes will allow users to pay to prioritise their emails, sending them directly to the main inbox of their prospective friends. 

There's even the option to pay more to grab the attention of your favourite celebrity, with the charge levied on a sliding scale depending on their fame and popularity. 

The scheme has already been tested in the United States. 

However, a feature that allowed users to contact the most high-profile celebrities (including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg), for a fee of $100 (£65), was abandoned. 

A spokesman for Facebook said: "The system of paying to message non-friends in their Facebook inbox is designed to prevent spam, while acknowledging that sometimes you might want to hear from people outside your immediate social circle. 

"We are testing a number of price points in the UK and other countries to establish the optimal fee that signals importance. Part of that test involves charging higher amounts for public figures, based on the number of followers they have. 

"This is still a test and these prices are not set in stone." 

Experts believe that by getting consumer’s credit card details for small purchases now, it means that they will be able to attract greater revenue in the future. 

Olly Mann, a gadget columnist, said: "This is probably a prelude to something much more substantial. 

"If they can charge for smaller features,their hope is that they can start charging for main features later on." 

By James Banks, Sky News Reporter. 

Source:- Sky News

riot in lautech as students mob pregnant lecturer victims pics

Hell Was Let loose in Ogbomoso yesterday when 3 Undergraduates lost their lives in Ghastly Accident in Ladoke Akintola University of Technology [LAUTECH], If you missed the story, Kindly Click HERE

Today The trouble Continued as the Students engaged in Riot Burning Down Bikes, The Car involved in the accident and also the car that was brought to Tow the car involved in the accident, Shops are closed, Filling Stations not open, No Light, No movement of Commercial Bikes and cars around the school premises and the Masters Students that came for Their Exam in the school were all forced out of their classes and some were even beaten and thrown out.

The angry students went to beat and Mob the Pregnant Lecturer who sent the students out of her class by telling them to go and Get their Laboratory gowns for their practicals before they can be allowed to enter her class before the student Died in the crash., The students Claim it was her Fault..

Father Sells His 6-Month-Old Son To Pay For Visa

The level of desperation people exhibit these days is just sickening:

A father, Mr Onyekachi Ekwelum, who sold his six-month-old son to raise money to process his travel documents, has been charged before a magistrate in court to defend his action.

Mr Ekwelum allegedly hatched and executed the act without the consent of the wife, but the lid was blown off by his 20-year-old spouse, Ozioma, when she could not find their son and reported the matter to the police.

Is was discovered that her husband wanted to abandon her and travel to Greece.

The Abia State commissioner of Police, Mr Usman Abubakar Tilli, who disclosed this to newsmen in his office on Monday said the police mounted a man hunt that led to the rescue of the child and the arrest of the suspects.

TON gathered that the young wife is still in shock over her husband’s action.

How Boko Haram Planned To Bomb Third Mainland Bridge

The security and intelligence community chiefs that talked about the vigilance that prevented the planned attack of Lagos three weeks ago failed to disclose to the public the magnitude of weapons the masterminds of the terror act had deployed for the failed operation and the main target.

At the weekend from the authorities concerned that apart from the deadly weapons uncovered, the arrested attackers’ main target was the strategic Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.

According to revelations at the weekend, the attackers surreptitiously conveyed the weapons to Lagos inside some of the numerous fuel tankers that ply major roads to Nigeria’s former capital and indeed Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre.

At the weekend that indeed the Federal and Lagos State authorities were quite startled that the masterminds of the planned terror act could pile up weapons of mass destruction in Lagos, generally considered the safest haven for investment at the moment in Nigeria.

It was learnt that the Lagos State authorities, including the governor, were shown the illegal arms that the security and intelligence community’s interagency co-operation confiscated recently. “They were shocked, really shocked when they were shown the level of organisational capacity of the evil ones that planned to attack Lagos…”, a top source disclosed last week.

In a related development, security chiefs that briefed the National Assembly top-shots last week about the reality of the planned attack of Lagos reportedly told the federal legislators that indeed the attackers had planned to attack Lagos to cripple the economy. Lagos is the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria. Former Head of State, the late Gen. Murtala Muhammed, had in 1976 recognised the strategic importance of Lagos even while he was announcing the creation of Nigeria’s new capital Abuja then.

His words in a national broadcast to the nation on January 3, 1976: “… Lagos will, in the foreseeable future, remain the nation’s commercial capital and one of its nerve centres. But in terms of servicing the present infrastructure alone, the committed amount of money and effort required will be such that Lagos State will not be ready to cope.

“It will even be unfair to expect the state to bear this heavy burden on its own. It is therefore necessary for the Federal Government to continue to sustain the substantial investment in the area. The port facilities and other economic activities in the Lagos area have to be expanded.

“There is need in the circumstances for the Federal Government to maintain a special defence and security arrangement in Lagos which will henceforth be designated a special area. These arrangements will be carefully worked out and written into the new constitution. Kaduna and Port Harcourt are to be accorded similar status and designated as Special Areas…”

The security chiefs told the federal legislators and their presiding officers that some of the attackers captured had hinted that the plan of attack on Lagos was deliberate: to cripple the nerve centre of Nigeria’s commerce and industry, a city that plays host to the international air and sea ports so that Nigeria’s economy could collapse.

It was said that the insurgents had reasoned that since they had successfully crippled business operations in the North, there should be federal character spread of the destruction, as even the East and South-South geo-political zones too have been negatively affected by the insurgency and kidnapping. The federal legislators were said to have been alarmed by a revelation about the sense of urgency of the insurgents to hit Lagos “just to make Nigeria ungovernable for the present administration”, as it was revealed.

It was not clear at press time whether the Federal Government’s planned amnesty programme for Boko Haram insurgents has been partly influenced by the confirmed incursion to the unofficial commercial capital that makes the money that Abuja spends. It is on record that as critics of Washington DC often say, “New York makes the money that Washington spends”, so it is with Lagos that consumes about 60 per cent of the fuel that PPMC/PPPRC imports and the rest of the country shares the remaining 40 per cent.

The implications of targeting the very strategic Lagos Third Mainland Bridge have been worrisome to authorities at all levels. This is part of the reasons for the concerns in Abuja and Lagos.

The Third Mainland Bridge is the longest of the three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the mainland. The other two are the Eko and Carter Bridges. It is the longest bridge in Africa. The Third Mainland Bridge is a vital artery of the network of federal highways and commands high patronage in Lagos Municipal Area, as it connects two of the Lagos State’s commercial hubs, Victoria Island and Ikeja.

The bridge, which has about 350,000 daily users, is also a vital link to Lekki, Ajah and Epe communities. Midway through the bridge, there is a link to Herbert Macaulay Way, Yaba. The bridge starts really from Oworonsoki, which is linked to the Oshodi–Apapa Expressway and Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, and ends at the Adeniji Adele Interchange on Lagos Island. Built by Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, the bridge was commissioned by former Military President Ibrahim Babangida in 1990 and it measures about 11.8 km in length.

The bridge posts huge economic relevance to the country as it saves commuters who shuttle between two of the Lagos State commercial hubs, Victoria Island and Ikeja, a lot of man-hours. It was said that the last repair of the important bridge cost the nation N1.055 billion.

It is feared that if Lagos Third Mainland Bridge is destroyed, Lagos and indeed Nigeria, are destroyed. It was estimated that the cache of arms seized from the insurgents about three weeks ago when it was reported that Boko Haram entered Lagos was capable of wreaking havoc on the vital bridge in the heart of Lagos.

Asari Dokubo: All State Governors Since 1999 Should Be Prosecuted, Jonathan Deserves Second Term

Speaking in an interview, Dokubo threw his weight behind President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision saying those criticizing him are being “mischievous.”

According to him, “the President has the right under the constitution to exercise the prerogative of mercy. And because the right to do this is constitutional, it makes the view of anybody, which may be to contrary, null and void and of no effect whatsoever because it is done on the basis of the right granted and protected by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Secondly, the whole world knows that the money stolen by Alamieyeseigha belongs to the people of Bayelsa State.”

“The people of Bayelsa State have forgiven him long time ago and have rehabilitated him. In fact, the majority of Ijaw people feel that Alamieyeseigha was unjustly victimised. What we have discovered is that the majority of the people criticising the pardon because of politics stole much more than what Alamieyeseigha stole and they are walking free. Go to any state and look into their financial records, come back and tell me if their money have never been stolen in a manner that is even worse than the celebrated case of Alamieyeseigha. What do you say of the people who are allowed to do plea bargaining and they are walking free? But we are saying that, if we want to fight corruption, it should be holistic. All the governors who have ruled any state since 1999 should tried,” he said.

OMG:MediaTakeOut still believes Kim K is faking her pregnancy

 MTO and their obsession with Kim K's pregnancy...lol. They say they have scientific evidence to prove she faked her baby bump. Below is what they wrote...

This weekend MediaTakeOut.com showed you an IMAGE that was sent out by Kim Kardashian - that supposedly proved that she was pregnant.

Well MediaTakeOut.com had a Photoshop expert look at it . . . and we were told that the pics that Kim Instagrammed are certified fakes!!!

See their proof after the cut...

 From MTO: 

How do we know - look closely at the FIRST PIC. There is a "WHITE SPACE" next to her bump - that CLEARLY does not match with the background. Our photoshop expert explains:

Look at the first picture, right under her boob, the background is totally white. What happened to the dressing room background? And it isn't her t-shirt either. It's the same right by the hand holding the camera. The background is all white. This is a bad photoshop job.

And the SECOND pic is also altered. If you look closely, there is a "BLACK TRIANGLE" next to Kim's leg, which is NOT in the first pic. And the triangle DOES NOT match with the background. Our expert adds:

There is a protrusion coming out of the side of her pants closest to the mirror. It isn't in the first picture and she has barely changed positions. . . .This is easy to spot.

So now tht we KNOW FOR A FACT that the pics were PHOTOSHOPPED. The next question is WHY. Is Kim trying to "PLAY UP" her bump . . . or is the WHOLE PREGNANCY FRAUDULENT!!!!