What are Counterfeit Drugs?

What are Counterfeit Drugs?

            Counterfeit drugs or Counterfeit medicines are part of the broader phenomenon of substandard pharmaceuticals-medicines manufactured below established standards for safety, quality and efficacy. They are produced and sold with the intent to deceptively represent its origin, authenticity or effectiveness. A counterfeit drug may be one which does not contain any active ingredients, contains lesser quality of active ingredients, contains entirely incorrect active ingredients and which is sold with incorrect or fake packing.

 

Factors that Increase the Circulation of Counterfeit Medicines

1. Because of globalization, free trade and international commerce, the movement of counterfeit medicines is easier and more difficult to control.

2. Legal systems are often not equipped to deal with the extremely serious consequences of counterfeit medicines and penalties for counterfeiters are often inadequate.

3. The increasing demand for medicines and the lack of knowledge and information among consumers to identify counterfeit medicines.

4. In many countries, the social security or health insurance systems are inefficient, forcing the patients to buy medicines out of their pocket. This forces the patients to look for cheaper medicines.

5. The regulations on the pharmaceutical industries in most countries are ineffective.

 

Possible Solutions to the Problem

1. Appropriate Legislation and Penal Sanctions – Counterfeit medicines must have a clear legal definition in order to establish legislations and sanctions appropriate to the crime. Because of its effect on public health and human life, counterfeiting of medicines must be taken seriously by governments and international bodies.

2. International Harmonization – In order to have a more effective global approach to counterfeiting of medicines, legal and administrative processes must have a common approach.

3. Sufficient Administrative and Regulatory Capacity – Coordinated action at the local level between health authorities, police, customs, judiciary institutions to ensure proper regulation, control, investigation and prosecution.

4. International Information Networks – to monitor the traffic of goods, exchange information, issue alerts from country to country, region to region.

5. Evaluation of Medicine Prices – excessive price gaps or extremely high prices in countries that has no pharmaceutical products regulation

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