When Mike Deats talks, people listen – and they should.
Deats (the well-respected head of enforcement at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom) says, “People can be reassured that it is extremely rare to receive counterfeit medicines from either a registered UK pharmacy or from any other legitimate outlet.”
And he’s right. But that doesn’t mean that counterfeit medicines isn’t an important health issue – it is. And the time to deal with it is now – before it becomes a more significant problem, as it already is much of the developing world. There's a lot of money to be made and the penalties for selling counterfeit medicines are small. It's a serious problem that needs to be seriously addressed.
As the Financial Times reports, “While seizures of counterfeit drugs by European customs agents have risen significantly in recent years, the proportion of fake prescription medicines sold through pharmacies and other regulated networks remains modest.” But there’s a lot of money to be made by criminals selling counterfeits over the Internet – and there have been more than a few cases of fakes entering the legitimate pharmaceutical supply chain in the United Kingdom.
And, it's important to note, that many Canadian Internet pharmaceies source their goods from British pharmaceies -- 20% of whose product comes from other "lower cost" parts of Europe.
On a similar note, Mickey Arieli, director of the Israeli Health Ministry's Pharmaceutical Crime Unit, says that “Israelis and former Israelis are behind many of the world's Internet sites that sell counterfeit or other illegal drugs involved in pharmaceutical crimes, providing useless or dangerous products to people who think they are getting the real thing.”
According to Arieli, prescription drugs meant to treat serious diseases like cancer, malaria or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder were reaching the public, especially via illegal Internet sales.
Most counterfeit drugs, said Arieli, are manufactured in China, but Arieli points to illegal Web sites operated by Israelis or former Israeli residents that expedite the transfer and payment for them.
The time to address counterfeit medicines is now -- before it becomes a public health crisis as it already is in much of the developing world. The profits are high and the criminal penalties are low. And, unless we address the issue -- the problem is only going to get worse.
Deats (the well-respected head of enforcement at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom) says, “People can be reassured that it is extremely rare to receive counterfeit medicines from either a registered UK pharmacy or from any other legitimate outlet.”
And he’s right. But that doesn’t mean that counterfeit medicines isn’t an important health issue – it is. And the time to deal with it is now – before it becomes a more significant problem, as it already is much of the developing world. There's a lot of money to be made and the penalties for selling counterfeit medicines are small. It's a serious problem that needs to be seriously addressed.
As the Financial Times reports, “While seizures of counterfeit drugs by European customs agents have risen significantly in recent years, the proportion of fake prescription medicines sold through pharmacies and other regulated networks remains modest.” But there’s a lot of money to be made by criminals selling counterfeits over the Internet – and there have been more than a few cases of fakes entering the legitimate pharmaceutical supply chain in the United Kingdom.
And, it's important to note, that many Canadian Internet pharmaceies source their goods from British pharmaceies -- 20% of whose product comes from other "lower cost" parts of Europe.
On a similar note, Mickey Arieli, director of the Israeli Health Ministry's Pharmaceutical Crime Unit, says that “Israelis and former Israelis are behind many of the world's Internet sites that sell counterfeit or other illegal drugs involved in pharmaceutical crimes, providing useless or dangerous products to people who think they are getting the real thing.”
According to Arieli, prescription drugs meant to treat serious diseases like cancer, malaria or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder were reaching the public, especially via illegal Internet sales.
Most counterfeit drugs, said Arieli, are manufactured in China, but Arieli points to illegal Web sites operated by Israelis or former Israeli residents that expedite the transfer and payment for them.
The time to address counterfeit medicines is now -- before it becomes a public health crisis as it already is in much of the developing world. The profits are high and the criminal penalties are low. And, unless we address the issue -- the problem is only going to get worse.
