Dangerous copies
Imitation tablets and capsules can contain all sorts of things: There may be too much, too little, or no active ingredient at all. In the worst case, the drug copies contain toxic ingredients that make people ill and do not heal them.
What counterfeits are there?
In the case of an imitation drug, experts speak of a total counterfeit. However, there are other types of fraud that are no less dangerous:
- The right drug can be in the wrong packaging (or vice versa). For example, medication for high blood pressure can be in a package for cholesterol-lowering medication.
- Package inserts may be missing, incomplete or written in a foreign language.
- The amount of active ingredient may differ compared to the preparation imprint (e.g., only 20 mg tablets in a 50 mg package).
More lucrative than drug trafficking
Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that in the industrialized nations (European Union, USA, Australia, Canada, Japan, etc.) less than one percent of medicines are counterfeit. The situation is quite different in less industrialized countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where the proportion of counterfeit drugs is estimated to be between 10 and 30 percent.
Cat and mouse
Governments, and especially pharmaceutical companies, have an interest in curbing the trade in counterfeit medicines. The WHO set up its own working group, the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT). Authorities now impose stiff penalties – even on people who ordered the counterfeits, whether knowingly or not.
How patients can protect themselves
Patients themselves have virtually no chance of detecting a well-made imitation, the World Health Organization concludes. Even proven experts would not be able to do so reliably.
Nevertheless, consumers should pay attention to some characteristics:
- The packaging should have a serial number (possibly as a machine-readable bar code) and an expiration date.
- Under no circumstances should you use loosely packed medicines or blister packs without outer packaging.
Particular caution is advised when ordering medicines over the Internet. According to a random sample by the WHO, more than half of the products sent via untested Internet pharmacies are counterfeits. In Germany, the German Institute for Medical Documentation and Information (DIMDI*) maintains a list of all approved mail-order pharmacies.
