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2025 Counterfeit Medication Scandal
2025 Counterfeit Medication Scandal is a major public health and criminal case in Lebanon involving the smuggling, distribution, and administration of counterfeit cancer drugs. The scandal has raised national and international concern after it was revealed that fake medications were substituted for essential chemotherapy treatments, potentially endangering the lives of hundreds of patients. Background Lebanon's ongoing economic crisis, combined with weakened oversight mechanisms in the health sector, created fertile ground for the infiltration of counterfeit pharmaceuticals. By early 2025, concerns over the availability and safety of imported drugs had intensified, particularly among cancer patients dependent on foreign medications. In January 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an international medical product alert warning that counterfeit versions of the immunotherapy drug ''IMFINZI'' (durvalumab) had been identified in Lebanon, Turkey, and Armenia. These fakes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west; Cyprus lies a short distance from the coastline. Lebanon has a population of more than five million and an area of . Beirut is the country's capital and largest city. Human habitation in Lebanon dates to 5000 BC. From 3200 to 539 BC, it was part of Phoenicia, a maritime civilization that spanned the Mediterranean Basin. In 64 BC, the region became part of the Roman Empire and the subsequent Byzantine Empire. After the seventh century, it Muslim conquest of the Levant, came under the rule of different Islamic caliphates, including the Rashidun Caliphate, Rashidun, Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid. The 11th century saw the establishment of Christian Crusader states, which fell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy regimen, regimen. Chemotherapy may be given with a cure, curative intent (which almost always involves combinations of drugs), or it may aim only to prolong life or to Palliative care, reduce symptoms (Palliative care, palliative chemotherapy). Chemotherapy is one of the major categories of the medical discipline specifically devoted to pharmacotherapy for cancer, which is called ''oncology#Specialties, medical oncology''. The term ''chemotherapy'' now means the non-specific use of intracellular poisons to inhibit mitosis (cell division) or to induce DNA damage (naturally occurring), DNA damage (so that DNA repair can augment chemotherapy). This meaning excludes the more-selective agents that block extracellular signals (signal transduction) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lebanese Liquidity Crisis
The Lebanese liquidity crisis is an ongoing financial crisis affecting Lebanon, that became fully apparent in August 2019, and was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon (which began in February 2020), the 2020 Beirut port explosion and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The country experienced liquidity shortages in the years prior to 2019 but the full extent of the fragility of the economy was concealed through financial engineering by the governor of the central bank. Lebanon's crisis was worsened by sanctions targeting Syria's former government and Iran-backed Hezbollah, which intensified under Donald Trump. The currency was devalued by over 98% between January 2023 and March 2024, with an annual inflation rate of 221.3% in 2023. Public services have collapsed; without using a private generator, households can expect only an hour or so of power a day. Shortages of drinking water have contributed to disease outbreaks, including the first cholera cases f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide. Only sovereign states are eligible to join, and it is the largest intergovernmental health organization at the international level. The WHO's purpose is to achieve the highest possible level of health for all the world's people, defining health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." The main functions of the World Health Organization include promoting the control of epidemic and endemic diseases; providing and improving the teaching and training in public health, the medical treatment of disease, and related matters; and promoting the establishment of international standards for biologic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Durvalumab
Durvalumab, sold under the brand name Imfinzi, is an anti-cancer medication used for treatment of various types of cancer. It was Drug development, developed by MedImmune, Medimmune/AstraZeneca. It is a human immunoglobulin G1 kappa (IgG1κ) monoclonal antibody that blocks the interaction of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1). Durvalumab is an Immune checkpoint#Immune checkpoint inhibitors, immune checkpoint inhibitor drug. It was approved in for medical use in the United States in May 2017, and in the European Union in September 2018. Medical uses The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved durvalumab for certain types of bladder, lung, and biliary tract cancer: * Adults with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who either have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or have disease progression within twelve months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. * Adults with unresectable ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq, Syria, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; and the Aegean Sea, Greece, and Bulgaria to the west. Turkey is home to over 85 million people; most are ethnic Turkish people, Turks, while ethnic Kurds in Turkey, Kurds are the Minorities in Turkey, largest ethnic minority. Officially Secularism in Turkey, a secular state, Turkey has Islam in Turkey, a Muslim-majority population. Ankara is Turkey's capital and second-largest city. Istanbul is its largest city and economic center. Other major cities include İzmir, Bursa, and Antalya. First inhabited by modern humans during the Late Paleolithic, present-day Turkey was home to List of ancient peoples of Anatolia, various ancient peoples. The Hattians ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Nakhchivan to the south. Yerevan is the Capital city, capital, largest city and Economy of Armenia, financial center. The Armenian Highlands has been home to the Hayasa-Azzi, Shupria and Nairi. By at least 600 BC, an archaic form of Proto-Armenian language, Proto-Armenian, an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, had diffused into the Armenian Highlands.Robert Drews (2017). ''Militarism and the Indo-Europeanizing of Europe''. Routledge. . p. 228: "The vernacular of the Great Kingdom of Biainili was quite certainly Armenian. The Armenian language was obviously the region's vernacular in the fifth century BC, when Persian commanders and Greek writers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ali Hassan Khalil
Ali Hassan Khalil (; born 15 July 1964) is a Lebanese politician, Member of Parliament, and former Minister of Finance. Khalil is described as the "second most powerful man" in Amal behind Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. He was sanctioned by the United States Treasury under the Magnitsky Act over "corruption" and "leveraging political power for financial gain". Career Khalil was born to a Shia family in Khiam. Khalil, who studied law at the Lebanese University, is a member of parliament representing the Marjeyoun/Hasbaya district. He ran successfully in 1996, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2018 and 2022. He secured victory in the 2022 Lebanese general election for the "South 3" electoral district by garnering 13,155 votes as part of the "Hope and Loyalty" coalition. Khalil was appointed minister of public health in the cabinet of Najib Mikati on 13 June 2011. Khalil's term ended when he was appointed minister of finance, replacing Mohammad Safadi in the post. He was appointed minister o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amal Movement
The Amal Movement () is a Lebanese political party and militia affiliated mainly with the Shia community of Lebanon. It was founded by Musa al-Sadr and Hussein el-Husseini in 1974 as the "Movement of the Deprived." The party has been led by Nabih Berri since 1980. The Amal movement gained attention from Shia outcry after the disappearance of Musa al-Sadr and saw a renewal in popularity after Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1978. The Iranian Revolution of 1978–79 also provided momentum for the party. The Amal Movement is the largest predominantly Shia party in parliament, having fourteen representatives to Hezbollah's thirteen. Amal has an alliance with Hezbollah. Name The movement's current name was originally used by the Deprived Movement's militia, the " Lebanese Resistance Regiments" (). This name, when abbreviated, created the acronym "Amal", which is Arabic for "hope".Augustus R. Norton, ''Amal and the Shi'a: Struggle for the Soul of Lebanon'' (Austin and London ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nabih Berri
Nabih Mustafa Berri ( ; born 28 January 1938) is a Lebanese politician who has been serving as Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon since 1992. He heads the Amal Movement and its parliamentary wing, Development and Liberation Bloc. Early life and education He was born in Bo, Sierra Leone to Lebanese Shia parents on 28 January 1938. His father, Mustafa Berri, was a trader there. Berri went to school in Tebnine and Ain Ebel in southern Lebanon, then continued his education in Bint Jbeil and Jaafariya supplementary schools in southern Lebanon and later studied at the Makassed and the Ecole de la Sagesse in Beirut. He graduated with a law degree from the Lebanese University in 1963, where he had served as the student body president, and became a lawyer at the Court of Appeals. Early career During 1963, Berri was elected as president of the National Union of Lebanese Students, and participated in student and political conferences. During his early career he became a lawyer a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport
Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport (, , previously known as Beirut International Airport) () is the only operational commercial airport in Lebanon. It is located in the Dahieh, Southern Suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, from the Beirut Central District, city center. The airport is the hub for Lebanon's national carrier, Middle East Airlines (MEA) and was the hub for the Lebanese cargo carrier Trans Mediterranean Airways, TMA cargo and Wings of Lebanon before their respective collapses. The airport was named after former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005, following his Assassination of Rafic Hariri, assassination earlier that year. It is the main port of entry into the country along with the Port of Beirut. The airport is managed and operated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which operates within the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (Lebanon), Ministry of Public Works and Transport. The DGCA is also responsible for operating the air traf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Health Care In Lebanon
Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, pain (including mental pain), or injury. Health can be promoted by encouraging healthful activities, such as regular physical exercise and adequate sleep, and by reducing or avoiding unhealthful activities or situations, such as smoking or excessive stress. Some factors affecting health are due to individual choices, such as whether to engage in a high-risk behavior, while others are due to structural causes, such as whether the society is arranged in a way that makes it easier or harder for people to get necessary healthcare services. Still, other factors are beyond both individual and group choices, such as genetic disorders. History The meaning of health has evolved over time. In keeping with the biomedical perspective, early definit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
