Abstract
ABSTRACT For the past several decades, global health research and policy have raised the alarm about the growing threat of counterfeit and low-quality drugs (henceforth ‘fakes’). These high-profile and regularly-repeated claims about ‘fake drugs’ pepper scholarly publications, grey literature, and popular writing. We reviewed much of this work and found that it shares two characteristics that sit awkwardly alongside one another. First, it asserts that fake drugs constitute an urgent threat to lives. Second, it reports trouble with ‘gaps’ in the evidence on which their claims are based; that data is weaker and less conclusive than anticipated. Given the ubiquity of and urgency with these claims are made, we found this juxtaposition perplexing. To understand this juxtaposition better, we undertook a close reading of the strategies authors employed to negotiate and overcome data and evidence ‘gaps’ and asked questions about the cultures of scholarly publishing in global health research. We argue that a scholarly commitment to studying fakes despite--rather than because of—the evidence functions to support the continuation of similar research. It also works against asking different questions—for instance regarding the lack of easy access to pharmacological data that might make it possible to know fakes differently.
Highlights
In March 2012, The Lancet ran the editorial ‘Counterfeit drugs: A growing global threat’ (Lancet 2012)
We ask: what can we discern about the cultures of knowledge at play in the scholarship on fake drugs? We argue that the upshot of the persistent mismatch between bold claims and weak evidence is to frame fake drugs as an unknowable problem
The analysis we present anticipates the modes by which cultures of scholarly publishing will continue to participate in its construction, and what as a result it might foreclose in terms of understanding and interrogating the social and political conditions of fakes
Summary
In March 2012, The Lancet ran the editorial ‘Counterfeit drugs: A growing global threat’ (Lancet 2012). The concerns raised in the article are not new. Over the last few decades, research and policy have raised the alarm about the danger that fake pharmaceuticals pose to global health. This narrative – that fake drugs threaten health – has been repeated so often and with such certainty that it has come to seem common-sensical. To explore the evidentiary basis of these concerns, we subjected these high-profile and oft-repeated claims in this body of published work to close scrutiny, following the paper trail of citation: sources, data, and experts. The upshot: Our reading of the published evidence points to a more complicated picture
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
