The legislature has set out a much more severe punishment for counterfeit medicine. The amendment to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act was passed on Tuesday, and punishments now include NT$200 million in fines or life in prison.
Much controversy over the safety of medications was stirred up this April after several pharmaceutical factories used banned substances to produce sub-standard medicine. Many consider the current punishment, which is up to 300,000 NT$ in fines, to be insufficient.
The new punishment includes seven years to lifetime imprisonment, and up to 200 million NT$ in fines depending on the level of harm caused by the counterfeit drugs.
KMT legislator Lee Guei-min said the new Act also prevents violators from evading fines by transferring property to others.
“The most important change in the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act is the enforcement of seizure, collection and detention of a third party’s property, if it was transferred from the violators. This prevents violators from harming our people and evading fines,” said Lee.
Lastly, the amendment ensures that pharmaceutical factories must stock sufficient amount of rare medicines.