Unfortunately, counterfeiters don't shy away from any industry. Pharmaceuticals is no exception. If anything, it might rather be the opposite, a profitable pot of honey for greedy counterfeiters.
A global issue, but varying in scale
Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are found everywhere, but are more common in poor countries and markets without a strong regulation and monitoring of the sales and distribution of pharmaceuticals. ("Markets" not countries, because online retailing seems to have emerged as a Wild West for counterfeit pharmaceuticals.)
We have seen claims that 30% of pharmaceuticals sold in some markets are counterfeit, for example.
The dangers of counterfeit pharmaceuticals
Administering counterfeit pharmaceuticals brings dangers, of course, but of different kinds:
Ineffective - Maybe the least dangerous. The pharmaceutical simply doesn't contain enough, or any, of the supposed active ingredient. It doesn't cure you, but it doesn't make matters worse, at least.
Too effective - The pharmaceutical may contain too much of the active ingredient, possibly causing an overdose.
Dangerous ingredients - The pharmaceutical may very well contain other components which may be dangerous.
Contaminated - Pharmaceuticals are usually produced in strictly controlled environments. Less so for counterfeit copies. Who knows what kind of bacteria it might convey to your system.
A case in point - Ozempic
Recently, Ozempic seems to have been the golden calf for counterfeiters to dance around. This new drug, originally developed to help diabetics, turned out to work well also against obesity. Online influencers in social media caught wind of this and touted the drug as a miracle cure for overweight persons. But, the approval process for public authorities is long and tedious, and the production capacity for the drug had trouble to meet demand. So we ended up with a situation of approvals in a few countries but not in most others, demand inflated by influencers and production struggling to meet demand. A perfect target for counterfeiters with no conscience providing Ozempic copies through online retailers.
According to British papers, 20 deaths in the UK alone have been connected to counterfeit Ozempic. In some cases, the jab contained standard insulin instead of the supposed active ingredient, causing hypoglycemic shock.
Reduce the risk
As a consumer, there are two simple actions you can do:
Don't buy pharmaceuticals from general online retailers
Only buy pharmaceuticals directly from registered pharmacies; on site or online
As a producer, you can use isAuthentic, making it easy to verify authenticity in the field, making sure that the package in the hand of the pharmacist indeed has left your factory.
Easy.
Because your little darling deserves it.
Image by AYTEN ALTUNİÇ on iStock
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