Counterfeit medications
[4] 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".
Low-quality counterfeit medication may cause any of several dangerous health consequences, including side effects or allergic reactions, in addition to their obvious lack of efficacy due to having less or none of their active ingredients.
Fake antibiotics with a low concentration of the active ingredients can do damage worldwide by stimulating the development of drug resistance in surviving bacteria.
This technology may prevent the diversion or counterfeiting of drugs by allowing wholesalers and pharmacists to determine the identity and dosage of individual products.
Some techniques, such as Raman spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-Ray diffraction (EDXRD)[7] can be used to discover counterfeit drugs while still inside their packaging.
G. N. Singh, India's top drug regulator, said in a 2014 interview: "If I have to follow U.S. standards in inspecting facilities supplying to the Indian market, […] we will have to shut almost all of those.
In July 2023, an Indian-made bottle of Cold Out purchased at a pharmacy in Baghdad contained 2.1 per cent ethylene glycol, according to Valisure LLC, which is about 21 times the widely accepted limit.
The vials were sourced in Turkey, shipped to Switzerland, then Denmark, finally to the United Kingdom from which they were exported to U.S. wholesale distributors.
[19][20] The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. wholesale distributor was hired by Canada Drugs, which also owns CanadaDrugs.com, a retail pharmacy website that sells prescription medication internationally, with a focus on the American market.
Foreign versions of Lipitor and Celebrex were smuggled into the U.S. from South America and resold after being repackaged to conceal the true origin of the drugs.
Procrit is an injectable drug used in the treatment of anemia, Serostim is Serono's brand name form of synthetic somatropin (i.e. human growth hormone formed using laboratory methods of genetic recombination) marketed for HIV-associated wasting,[23] and Neupogen is an injectable drug used by cancer patients to stimulate the production of white blood cells in order to decrease the incidence of infections.
[18] In 2015, the U.S. residents determined to be at the greatest risk of exposure to counterfeit products through personal prescription drug importation, are aged greater than 45 years, reside in the south or west regions of the U.S., are of Hispanic ethnicity, college educated, poor or near poor poverty status, lacking U.S. citizenship, traveling to developing countries, lacking health insurance, managing high family out-of-pocket medical costs, having trouble finding a healthcare provider, self-reporting fair or poor health status, filling a prescription on the Internet, and using online chat groups to learn about health.
[25] Recent evidence suggests that provision of health insurance coverage may effectively reduce importation and the subsequent risk of exposure to counterfeit medicines, especially among particular subpopulations.
[33] To help combat the issue of counterfeit drugs, the European Union directive on false medicines was published in January 2013.
[34] This came into effect in February 2019 and requires UK licensed medicine to have a unique identifier (UI) and an anti tamper device on each pack of medication.
Every Pharmacy dispensing the medication is required to check the anti tamper device and update the FMD online system every time a pack has been issued.
[43] In July 2011, Kenya's Pharmacy and Poisons Board also adopted text message-based anticounterfeiting systems and endorsed the Sproxil solution.
[44] In early 2012 it was announced that more than one million people in Africa had checked their medicines using the text-message based verification service developed by Sproxil.
Diluents include "foodstuffs (flour and baby milk formula), sugars (glucose, lactose, maltose, and mannitol), and inorganic materials such as powder.
"[50] Dr. Hirsch, the New York Medical Examiner, claimed that buying illegal drugs is "... like playing Russian roulette," because "there is no way of knowing just what a heroin dealer has slipped into the packets."
In some cases, if a dealer does not take the time to dilute the drug with lactose or other fillers, a "very potent blend of heroin" is sold, which can lead to overdoses.
[51] Claims that illegal drugs are routinely cut with substances such as rat poison and crushed glass, often cited in antidrug pamphlets, are largely unsubstantiated.
[52] Some countries, cities and organizations deploy drug checking services in order to improve the ability of users to make a more accurate risk assessment.
