Doctors Warned About Counterfeit Avastin, a Popular Cancer Drug

This is troubling on so many levels. The maker of the Avastin cancer drug is currently warning doctors and hospitals that a fake version of the drug has been found, and it's really hard to tell if you might have the fraudulent version. Genentech, which makes Avastin, was short on details of how much fake medicine is out there and how many people are using it -- they simply found that some vials of "Avastin" did not contain the active ingredient. "It's not Avastin. It's not safe and effective, and it shouldn't be used," a spokeswoman said in a Wall Street Journal report. 

According to the Avastin website, it's a drug that's taken intravenously and is used with chemotherapy in colon, lung, and kidney cancer. The Wall Street Journal adds: "Avastin belongs to a class of cancer therapies that interferes with the development of new blood vessels that tumors need to grow."

Read the full story at The Atlantic Wire.