Recommendations for new legislation to combat counterfeit medicines

The European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines (EAASM) has submitted a report to European Parliament, calling for enhanced legislation to improve the protection of Europe’s patients against the intensifying risks and dangers of counterfeit medicines.

The report notes that the severity of Europe’s counterfeit medicines challenge is rising inexorably. Despite the unrelenting efforts of committed medicines regulators, international police and myriad stakeholders dedicated to protecting Europe’s patients from the harm of fake drugs, the European community as one faces an escalating trial on this vital matter.

It is fundamentally impossible to declare the true magnitude of medicine counterfeiting on an international scale due to its clandestine nature. However, the information available reveals a shocking rise in the recorded incidence alone, the report states.