Be Aware of Fake Drugs

According to The World Health Organization, Counterfeit medicines are found, just about everywhere in the world and as prices of drugs increase steadily the marketing of fake drugs is bound to attract more unscrupulous marketers whose aim is just to make money without any respect for humanity.

Fake medicines are products sold as medicines that are purposely and deceptively mislabeled to fool people into thinking they are buying the real thing. Fake drugs are purposely packed in a way to duplicate genuine drugs. Some of these fake drugs are packaged in such a manner that even pharmacists, may have trouble distinguishing them from the real drugs.

The sale of fake drugs can damage the confidence of people may have for the medical industry and is no doubt a concern for the general public. Consuming fake drugs can not only lead to treatment failure but perhaps even death.

Fake Drugs found in Ontario pharmacy

In 2005, counterfeit pharmaceuticals were found in two Ontario pharmacies. In one case the pharmacy had been selling counterfeit ‘Norvasc’ pills. Norvasc is a drug that is prescribed for the treatment of hypertension and angina.

As eleven patients of the pharmacy who were prescribed Norvasc died, the Ontario Coroner’s Officer conducted an investigation into their deaths to determine if the counterfeit medication was a contributing factor.
(Source: http://www.cisc.gc.ca/pharmaceuticals/pharmaceuticals_e.html)

In case you are wondering, the fake Norvasc pills were discovered due to the alertness of a patient who regularly had prescriptions for Norvasc filled at the Pharmacy. You can read about this case HERE

  

Buying Prescription Drugs - Tips  

• Always buy your prescription drugs from reputable pharmacies.
   
  
• Play it smart by avoiding website pharmacies. Know who you are buying medication from. It is one thing to buy contact lenses etc from online merchants but prescription drugs! Make sure you know who you are buying drugs from.
  
  
• If you regularly take a particular drug and find it not to be working as expected, after a refill you should speak to your doctor.
  
  
• When getting a prescription that will last for a longer period say three to six months you might want to check with the pharmacy the expiry date of the drug.
   
  I have often wondered why pharmacists who charge anywhere from $8 to $15 to fill a prescription are not required by law to specify the expiry date and lot number of the drug on the label of the pill holder bottles they hand out to patients.

 

 The WHO estimates that 10% of medication globally is counterfeit. 

 

While governments across the globe are serious about combating counterfiet drugs it is also important for consumers to do their part by reporting suspicious drugs so that the authorities can investigate and act to stop the spread of fake drugs.