Medicines top counterfeit concern list in Europe

Research published last week examining consumer opinions on counterfeit drugs reveals that 5%of consumers across five European countries suspect they have received a counterfeit prescription drug and an alarming 1% believe they definitely have. This means that as many as 12.8 million consumers could have been exposed to counterfeit drugs in those markets.

According to research carried out by ICM on behalf of patient safety communications company Aegate, awareness of the phoney drugs market is moderate in Europe with 61% saying they know prescription drugs can be faked. As a result, 79% of consumers put medicine at the top of their counterfeit concern list, far ahead of any other product. Designer clothes and toys, which were the next concerns, fall far behind with four per cent each.

Consumers see the fake drugs trade to be largely the responsibility of medicines suppliers, with 45% saying the manufacturer is responsible for the fake prescription medicine trade. 31% say it is the fault of the wholesaler and 30% the pharmacist.

85% of consumers said they would feel more confident if medicine packs contained a safety feature that enabled the pharmacist to verify the medicine is genuine before dispensing. In addition, 90% said they would not buy drugs on-line if pharmacies in Europe had a tool to authenticate prescription drugs.

Consumers want tougher measures

Consumers also want tougher punishments. Over two thirds of them believe the penalty for counterfeiting medicines should be between five and 15 years in prison, despite the current penalties being far lower - while a fifth feel life in prison is justified.

"It is very different buying medication online to buying an item of clothing," commented Gary Noon, chief executive of Aegate. "Patients need to be encouraged to seek medicines from their high street pharmacist who is trained and qualified to assess their medical needs as well as the medicine. Patient safety should be the industry's priority from the regulator, to the manufacturer and to the pharmacist and it is clear we need to ensure the pharmacist has the right tools in place to carry out such an important task,' he said.

UK regulator plays down fake medicine threat

Meantime, responding to the Aegate report, in an unusual statement, Mike Deats, head of enforcement at the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), played down the findings, saying: '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,' reported the Financial Times.

The FT also noted that Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical group, has managed to get the MHRA to endorse its own media campaign warning of the dangers of buying medicines over the internet, including shock adverts in cinemas and on television showing a man extracting a dead rat from his mouth. However, it has also used counterfeits as a way to attack traders who buy medicines on sale in one country at a low price and repackage them for sale in another at a higher price, the newspaper pointed out