Counterfeit Drugs

By Michael Feldman

Counterfeit medicine is fake medicine. It may

be contaminated or contain the wrong or no active ingredient. They could have the right active ingredient but at the wrong dose. Counterfeit drugs are illegal and may be harmful to your health.

Counterfeit Drugs

In this case, the active ingredient in Heparin was replaced with a cheaper

counterfeit substitute, causing a range of adverse reactions and a nationwide series of recalls. Eventually, the counterfeits were suspected in as many as 81 deaths. Baxter, the company that sold the drug in the U.S., maintains that the number is far lower. As a result of the contamination, Baxter faced 740 lawsuits and eventually sold the division that produced the drug. Although some medications are more frequently counterfeited than others, any drug—from pain medication and antibiotics to lifestyle drugs and even animal medications—can be counterfeited. One of the most notable recent examples is the blood thinner Heparin, which in 2008 was found to have counterfeit active ingredients sourced from Changzhou SPL in China.

Examples of Current Scams

Be mindful of appearance. Closely examine the packaging and lot

numbers of prescription drugs and be alert to any changes from one prescription to the next.

Consult your pharmacist or physician if your prescription drug looks suspicious.

Alert your pharmacist and physician immediately if your medication causes adverse side effects or if your condition does not improve.

Use caution when purchasing drugs on the Internet. Do not purchase medications from unlicensed online distributors or those who sell medications without a prescription. Reputable online pharmacies will have a seal of approval called the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Site (VIPPS), provided by the Association of Boards of Pharmacy in the United States.

Be aware that product promotions or cost reductions and other “special deals” may be associated with counterfeit product promotion.

Tips for Avoiding Fraud

The magnitude of the drug counterfeiting problem is difficult to gauge. Since

the crimes of producing and selling counterfeit drugs generally become known only when the perpetrators are caught, any true estimate of prevalence is difficult. WHO has estimated that 10% of global pharmaceutical commerce, or $21 billion, involves counterfeit drugs. During the meningitis epidemic in Niger in 1995, vaccines from Nigeria were found to be counterfeit, and an estimated 60,000 patients received counterfeit vaccine. In Brazil in 1998, approximately 200 unwanted pregnancies resulted from the use of counterfeit contraceptive tablets. In Haiti in 1996, 75 children died after ingesting counterfeit anti fever medications that contained ethylene glycol, an industrial solvent.

Relevant Statistics

Why are counterfeit drugs dangerous? What types of drugs are counterfeited? Aren't counterfeit drugs only a threat in

developing countries? Are counterfeit drugs commonly found in the

United States? If I purchase or obtain medications over the

Internet, should I be concerned about counterfeit drugs?

Frequently Asked Questions

Not only do counterfeit drugs defraud consumers, they deny patients the therapies that can alleviate suffering

and save lives—and in too many cases, counterfeit drugs cause great harm and fatalities. They can cause allergic reactions, heavy metal poisoning, as well as promote drug resistance strains of diseases. These fake drugs may consist of anything from chalk, powdered concrete, and boric acid (or worse) and are sold as if they were real drugs. Because counterfeiters are very good at making their product look like the real thing, it is easy to confuse these harmful products with the real thing.

Any drug, from an antibiotic to a pain medication, can be counterfeited. In 2007, counterfeiters sold more than 600 different types of branded, generic and over-the-counter drugs and used improved packaging to make their counterfeit goods harder to detect.

No. In fact, counterfeit drugs can, and have shown up in both online and traditional pharmacies based in the United States. In August 2007, the FDA warned consumers who recently filled prescriptions at two Medicine Shoppes in Baltimore they may have received expired or counterfeit drugs.

The World Health Organization estimates that counterfeit drugs range from less than 1 percent in developed countries to more than 30 percent in some developing countries. Currently, the United States has one of the safest drug supplies in the world because our pharmaceutical supply system is "closed" to importation. Although most of the counterfeit drugs in the United States are not in our normal supply chain, adulterated, fraudulently obtained, expired or counterfeit drugs remain an issue in the United Sates. Especially anytime consumers venture outside of the U.S.'s currently closed system, there is a very real risk to their health and welfare.

Yes. While the Internet has made it possible to compare prices and buy products without ever leaving home, it has also made it easy for unscrupulous people to sell unapproved and counterfeit drugs to unsuspecting customers. In some countries, this is a rare occurrence; in others, it is an everyday reality. Based on its assessment of more than 1,000 Internet drug outlets selling medicine online, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) found that 97 percent of these sites appear to be operating out of compliance with state and federal laws or established patient safety and pharmacy practice standards.

Frequently Asked Questions Awnsers

http://

www.fda.gov/drugs/resourcesforyou/consumers/buyingusingmedicinesafely/counterfeitmedicine/default.htm

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/drugs/story/2011-10-09/cnbc-drugs/50690880/1

http://counterfeitdrugs.wordpress.com/examples/

http://diamondbar-walnut.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/counterfeit-prescription-drugs--tips-for-avoiding-counterfeit-prescription-drugs_3b4d18b1

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/465906_1 www.safemedicines.org/faq.html

Citations