The World Health Organization has estimated that some 10% of the world’s drugs are counterfeits, with incidences ranging from 1% in highly developed countries to 30% in developing countries. While strict regulation of drugs in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) generally means that the U.S. drug supply is safe, there have been several incidents in which significant numbers of counterfeit Lipitor, Procrit, and Viagra have been uncovered here.
Popular Counterfeit Drugs
In addition, FDA has reported that when three consumers obtained the weight-loss drug Xenical from two Web sites, testing showed that none of the capsules the consumers were sent contained orlistat, Xenical’s active ingredient. One capsule contained sibutramine, the active ingredient in a different weight-loss drug—Meridia. Experts say it is generally unsafe to use a drug that contains a different active ingredient from the one that has been prescribed.
FDA also has reported on Internet orders for Ambien, Xanax, Lexapro, and Ativan that sometimes were shipped with a drug containing haloperidol, a powerful anti-psychotic. Some of those receiving the contaminated product had to seek emergency medical treatment for symptoms such as breathing difficulties, muscle spasms, and muscle stiffness, all known side effects of haloperidol.
“Each day, innocent people unknowingly risk death or serious injury to their health by taking counterfeit drugs,” says Partnership for Safe Medicines president Marv Shepherd. “All across the world we are seeing more occurrences of counterfeits involving more types of drugs in more countries. The makers of counterfeit drugs have enjoyed and profited from loopholes in our distribution system designed to deliver healthy medicines to those in need.”
Steps to Protect Yourself
So what can consumers do to help protect themselves from the counterfeit drug manufacturers? The Partnership offers an eight-part SAFE DRUG checklist to help consumers identify and protect against counterfeit medicines:
- Sample--Request a sample of the prescribed drug from the pharmacist to give you a “baseline” idea of its characteristics such as appearance, taste, texture, reactions, and packaging.
- Appearance--Compare the prescription drug you receive with what it is supposed to look like using pictures from the Physicians Desk Reference at your library or online. Look for differences in packaging or the pills themselves, including changes in paper, printing, color, or type font.
- Feel--Be aware of the drug’s taste and any feelings once you take it. Keep a diary of reactions for future reference.
- Evaluate--Are you feeling better as a result of taking the medication? Is it doing what the doctor said you should expect it to do?
- Doctor--Contact your doctor and pharmacist if the drugs don’t seem to have the same taste or if you feel different.
- Report--Contact the pharmacy if you have any concerns about the drugs’ quality or have confirmed differences in packaging, labeling, or pills. You can also contact FDA’s MedWatch program at (800) FDA-1088.
- Unavailable--If you confirm that a drug is counterfeit, remove it immediately from your medicine cabinet, mark it with a red pen, and tape the container shut so that no one in the family can take it by mistake. Contact FDA for information on disposing of it or providing it to local law enforcement.
- Gather--Gather all information you can find on how, where, and when you obtained the counterfeit medication and how long you have been taking it. Contact your doctor and pharmacist.
Resources:
Partnership for Safe Medicines
