MOSCOW, July 3 (Itar-Tass) — Chairperson of the State Duma Security and Anti-Corruption Committee Irina Yarovaya (United Russia) has proposed to equal production of fake drugs to attempted murder.
She made the proposal on Tuesday in comment on the detention of the organizers of massive production of fake cancer drugs in the Rostov region.
“The counts of these criminal cases – fraud and trademark abuse – do not correspond to the severity of this crime and its consequences,” she said. “Such actions do not differ from attempted murder. Makers of fake drugs do not care about the possible aftereffects. They know that the health of a patient taking a fake drug will deteriorate and he may die.”
There is a gap in the national laws, Yarovaya said. “Amendments must be imminent. Actually, there is no punishment for makers of fake drugs know. Their cynicism and impudence – the selling of some ampoules for 20,000 rubles to child patients – must be punishable adequately,” she said.
“This economic crime is, actually, an attempt on human health and life. The number of victims is indefinite,” Yarovaya noted.
An interdepartmental working group will be formed for analyzing laws and proposing new systemic measures, she said, noting that letters were sent to Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika and Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev on Tuesday. “We will propose new components of a crime, which must have proportionate punishment,” she said.