2010
Counterfeit Medicines
Counterfeit medicines are medicines that are intentionally mislabelled with regards to either identity and / or source. Counterfeit medicines can range from life saving medicine to regular painkillers, which have not been approved by regulated standards. Many contain either too much, too little or none of the active ingredient, have the wrong ingredients or contain the correct ingredients but with misleading packaging. Use of these counterfeited medicines can result in lack of correct treatment, or even death, with both generic and branded medicines being susceptible to this fraud.
Counterfeit Medicines in Ireland
Identifying the extent of this market is extremely difficult due to the illegality of the industry but RTE News recently stated that a report “has claimed that the counterfeit medicines market in Ireland could be worth more than €86 million a year” and the Pfizer Report “Cracking Counterfeit Europe” has explained that Ireland is the 6th worst in Europe for activity concerned with counterfeiting medicines.
Counterfeit Medicines in Europe
The European market is said to generate more than €10.5 billion every year. Counterfeit medicines, which have been discovered at EU borders, have increased seven fold in only 2 years from “560,598 articles in 2005 to 4,081,056 in 2007” . The Pfizer Report research showed how 1 in 5 people (out of the 14,000 surveyed) have admitted to buying prescription only medicines online, which equates to 77 million of the overall population. These are increasingly worrying numbers as it is estimated up to 90% of the medicines sold online are in fact fake.
Why Buy Online?
There are many reasons why a person would turn to buying prescription medicines online. Pfizer reported that men are more likely to buy online and so conducted a study of 1000 UK men to find out the reasons why. The research found that “1 in 10 have purchased medicines without a prescription” with 50% of these being via the Internet and many did not think there would be a high risk with taking prescription medicine without an actual prescription.
The main reasons why they felt that it was necessary to purchase medicines off the Internet revolved around 3 main points:
What Do These Counterfeit Medicines Contain?
As I have mentioned previously these counterfeit medicines do not contain the correct levels of active ingredients required and so can be extremely harmful. Studies have found that these medicines can contain ingredients such as:
1. Metronidazole (often used in fake Viagra and when mixed with alcohol can cause severe vomiting)
2. Talcum Powder (found in cholesterol lowering medicine containing no active ingredient)
3. Lactose, sucrose, chalk (often used in counterfeit paracetamol but are non – active substances)
4. Rat Poison (found in counterfeiting blood pressure lowering medicine)
5. Boric Acid & Lead based Road Paint (found in counterfeit medicine to relieve severe pain)
The men surveyed above said that if they knew their medicine to be harmful they would reconsider whether to buy it or not. But do people know the extent to how harmful these counterfeit medicines can be? Are they willing to risk their lives for something to be a bit cheaper or more convenient?
What Can We Do?
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has suggestions such as increasing regulatory control of medicines, and involving a large range of stakeholders including, but definitely not limited to, health professionals. With this in mind, WHO established IMPACT (the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce) with their aim being “to involve a range of stakeholders in collaborative efforts to protect people from buying and taking counterfeit medicines. To prevent the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit medicines, IMPACT’s areas of focus are: legislative and regulatory infrastructure, regulatory implementation, enforcement, technology and communication” .
This industry does need to be heavily regulated in order to control counterfeiting. People are unaware of what is going into these products and need to become more informed. Regulations and guidelines need to be constantly updated, not just in Europe but also throughout the world. Many of those who are involved in counterfeiting do not fear any repercussions, as their countries do not have these regulations.
The Good Distribution Practice (GDP) Passport, which is highly recommended, should become a required legal practice for all pharmaceutical companies. This ensures visibility and clarity throughout the whole supply chain – from storage, to transport, and to final delivery to the customer to ensure that the product is in the same standard of which it left the factory. With the GDP Passport, it is required that all actions be documented thus enabling any problems to be seen, and for ease of regulation. The IEA feel that introducing this to as many companies as possible could help reduce this increasing trend of purchasing prescription medicine from unregulated sources.
Lastly, I feel that a campaign is needed to make everyone more aware of the hazardous ingredients that they would be consuming if they do not buy the medicine from a pharmacy and the harmful affects of taking these medicines. Each government needs to take a look at the causes for people turning to these counterfeit medicines and begin to find solutions from there. As we can see from the information in this article, people do not have a proper understanding of what they are buying, the reasons for purchasing over the Internet are similar, and trends in this sector are increasing at an alarming rate. Something needs to be done.
Counterfeit medicines are medicines that are intentionally mislabelled with regards to either identity and / or source. Counterfeit medicines can range from life saving medicine to regular painkillers, which have not been approved by regulated standards. Many contain either too much, too little or none of the active ingredient, have the wrong ingredients or contain the correct ingredients but with misleading packaging. Use of these counterfeited medicines can result in lack of correct treatment, or even death, with both generic and branded medicines being susceptible to this fraud.
Counterfeit Medicines in Ireland
Identifying the extent of this market is extremely difficult due to the illegality of the industry but RTE News recently stated that a report “has claimed that the counterfeit medicines market in Ireland could be worth more than €86 million a year” and the Pfizer Report “Cracking Counterfeit Europe” has explained that Ireland is the 6th worst in Europe for activity concerned with counterfeiting medicines.
Counterfeit Medicines in Europe
The European market is said to generate more than €10.5 billion every year. Counterfeit medicines, which have been discovered at EU borders, have increased seven fold in only 2 years from “560,598 articles in 2005 to 4,081,056 in 2007” . The Pfizer Report research showed how 1 in 5 people (out of the 14,000 surveyed) have admitted to buying prescription only medicines online, which equates to 77 million of the overall population. These are increasingly worrying numbers as it is estimated up to 90% of the medicines sold online are in fact fake.
Why Buy Online?
There are many reasons why a person would turn to buying prescription medicines online. Pfizer reported that men are more likely to buy online and so conducted a study of 1000 UK men to find out the reasons why. The research found that “1 in 10 have purchased medicines without a prescription” with 50% of these being via the Internet and many did not think there would be a high risk with taking prescription medicine without an actual prescription.
The main reasons why they felt that it was necessary to purchase medicines off the Internet revolved around 3 main points:
- Embarrassment – a large proportion (75%) of the prescription drugs bought over the Internet are to do with either erectile dysfunction, smoking cessation or weight loss. Most men purchasing these (especially ED) would prefer not to have to see a doctor so they could avoid the embarrassment.
- Quicker – They also feel that it is much quicker to purchase them over the Internet, rather than having to make a doctors appointment and then go see them. Convenience and speed were the reasons chosen by 37% of those surveyed.
- Cheaper – Lastly, they felt that it would be a lot cheaper than buying from a pharmacy as medicine prices continue to increase. Medicine can become a large proportion of an individual’s/family’s income and so they need to look for cheaper options. Are our high prices fuelling this illegal industry?
What Do These Counterfeit Medicines Contain?
As I have mentioned previously these counterfeit medicines do not contain the correct levels of active ingredients required and so can be extremely harmful. Studies have found that these medicines can contain ingredients such as:
1. Metronidazole (often used in fake Viagra and when mixed with alcohol can cause severe vomiting)
2. Talcum Powder (found in cholesterol lowering medicine containing no active ingredient)
3. Lactose, sucrose, chalk (often used in counterfeit paracetamol but are non – active substances)
4. Rat Poison (found in counterfeiting blood pressure lowering medicine)
5. Boric Acid & Lead based Road Paint (found in counterfeit medicine to relieve severe pain)
The men surveyed above said that if they knew their medicine to be harmful they would reconsider whether to buy it or not. But do people know the extent to how harmful these counterfeit medicines can be? Are they willing to risk their lives for something to be a bit cheaper or more convenient?
What Can We Do?
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has suggestions such as increasing regulatory control of medicines, and involving a large range of stakeholders including, but definitely not limited to, health professionals. With this in mind, WHO established IMPACT (the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce) with their aim being “to involve a range of stakeholders in collaborative efforts to protect people from buying and taking counterfeit medicines. To prevent the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit medicines, IMPACT’s areas of focus are: legislative and regulatory infrastructure, regulatory implementation, enforcement, technology and communication” .
This industry does need to be heavily regulated in order to control counterfeiting. People are unaware of what is going into these products and need to become more informed. Regulations and guidelines need to be constantly updated, not just in Europe but also throughout the world. Many of those who are involved in counterfeiting do not fear any repercussions, as their countries do not have these regulations.
The Good Distribution Practice (GDP) Passport, which is highly recommended, should become a required legal practice for all pharmaceutical companies. This ensures visibility and clarity throughout the whole supply chain – from storage, to transport, and to final delivery to the customer to ensure that the product is in the same standard of which it left the factory. With the GDP Passport, it is required that all actions be documented thus enabling any problems to be seen, and for ease of regulation. The IEA feel that introducing this to as many companies as possible could help reduce this increasing trend of purchasing prescription medicine from unregulated sources.
Lastly, I feel that a campaign is needed to make everyone more aware of the hazardous ingredients that they would be consuming if they do not buy the medicine from a pharmacy and the harmful affects of taking these medicines. Each government needs to take a look at the causes for people turning to these counterfeit medicines and begin to find solutions from there. As we can see from the information in this article, people do not have a proper understanding of what they are buying, the reasons for purchasing over the Internet are similar, and trends in this sector are increasing at an alarming rate. Something needs to be done.
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