Two ringleaders in a fake cancer drug trading case at the Vietnam Pharma JSC (VN Pharma) were sentenced to 17 years and 20 years in prison on October 1 at the first-instance trial at the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court.

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Procuracy on September 26 proposed jail sentences of 3-20 years for 12 defendants in a fake cancer drug trading case at the Vietnam Pharma JSC (VN Pharma).

The Government Inspectorate of Vietnam on September 21 announced that it will launch a special inspection of the Ministry of Health (MOH), following revelations of fraud within the ministry’s pharmaceutical licensing process.

No report exists about the scale of the counterfeit drug market in Vietnam, but experts believe that the market is large and that many drugs are easily faked.

The former CEO of a private pharmaceutical company in Ho Chi Minh City has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for smuggling medicine and forging paperwork.