Counterfeit Drugs Surfacing

Counterfeit drugs

Anyone who has traveled into the small border towns in Mexico has surely seen the number of “farmacias” that line the streets. They are usually nothing more that a small store with a person in a white lab coat working behind the counter. The danger here is that the prescription medication that is readily available may not be medicine at all.



The Food and Drug Administration has warned consumers about these dangers. The warning reminded people that “drugs purchased in foreign countries are not regulated by the FDA” and “do not carry the same FDA assurances of safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality as drugs purchased within the United States.”



What is truly bothersome now is the proliferation of internet pharmacies. Unless the web site carries the “VIPPS” logo, you truly cannot be sure where the medication originated. Only on-line pharmacies that “have demonstrated to National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) compliance with VIPPS criteria including patient rights to privacy, authentication and security of prescription orders, adherence to a recognized quality assurance policy, and provision of meaningful consultation between patients and pharmacists.” To find out more on VIPPS certification, go to www.nabp.net.

A counterfeit medication or a counterfeit drug is a medication or pharmaceutical product which is produced and sold with the intent to deceptively represent its origin, authenticity or effectiveness. A counterfeit drug may contain inappropriate quantities of active ingredients, or none, may be improperly processed within the body (e.g., absorption by the body), may contain ingredients that are not on the label (which may or may not be harmful), or may be supplied with inaccurate or fake packaging and labeling. Medicines which are deliberately mislabeled to deceive consumers—including mislabeled but otherwise genuine generic drugs—are counterfeit. Counterfeit drugs are related to pharma fraud. Drug manufacturers and distributors are increasingly investing in countermeasures, such as traceability and authentication
technologies, to try to minimise the impact of counterfeit drugs.

Legitimate, correctly labeled, low-cost generic drugs are not counterfeit or fake (although they can be counterfeited), but can be caught up in anticounterfeiting enforcement measures. In that respect, a debate is raging as to whether "counterfeit products [are] first and foremost a threat to human health and safety or [whether] provoking anxiety [is] just a clever way for wealthy nations to create sympathy for increased protection of their intellectual property rights". Generic drugs are subject to normal regulations in countries where they are manufactured and sold.