{"title":"Tackling Counterfeit Drugs: The Challenges and Possibilities.","authors":"Ranjana Pathak, Vaibhav Gaur, Himanshu Sankrityayan, Jaideep Gogtay","doi":"10.1007/s40290-023-00468-w","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Drugs that have been manufactured or packaged fraudulently are referred to as counterfeit/fake/spurious/falsified drugs because they either lack active ingredients or have the incorrect dosages. Counterfeiting of drugs has become a global issue with which the whole world is grappling. The World Health Organization states the frightening figure in which almost 10.5% of the medications worldwide are either subpar or fake. Although developing and low-income countries are the targets of the large-scale drug counterfeiting activities, fake/substandard drugs are also making their way into developed nations including the USA, Canada, and European countries. Counterfeiting of drugs is leading to not only economic loss but is also playing its part in the morbidity and mortality of patients. The recent COVID-19 pandemic fuelled the demand for certain categories of medicines such as antipyretics, remdesivir, corticosteroids, vaccines, etc., thus increasing the demand and manufacture of subpar/fake medicines. This review articulates the current trends and global impact of drug counterfeiting, current and potential measures for its prevention and the role of different stakeholders in tackling the menace of drug counterfeiting.</p>","PeriodicalId":19778,"journal":{"name":"Pharmaceutical Medicine","volume":"37 4","pages":"281-290"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10184969/pdf/","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Pharmaceutical Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s40290-023-00468-w","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Drugs that have been manufactured or packaged fraudulently are referred to as counterfeit/fake/spurious/falsified drugs because they either lack active ingredients or have the incorrect dosages. Counterfeiting of drugs has become a global issue with which the whole world is grappling. The World Health Organization states the frightening figure in which almost 10.5% of the medications worldwide are either subpar or fake. Although developing and low-income countries are the targets of the large-scale drug counterfeiting activities, fake/substandard drugs are also making their way into developed nations including the USA, Canada, and European countries. Counterfeiting of drugs is leading to not only economic loss but is also playing its part in the morbidity and mortality of patients. The recent COVID-19 pandemic fuelled the demand for certain categories of medicines such as antipyretics, remdesivir, corticosteroids, vaccines, etc., thus increasing the demand and manufacture of subpar/fake medicines. This review articulates the current trends and global impact of drug counterfeiting, current and potential measures for its prevention and the role of different stakeholders in tackling the menace of drug counterfeiting.
期刊介绍:
Pharmaceutical Medicine is a specialist discipline concerned with medical aspects of the discovery, development, evaluation, registration, regulation, monitoring, marketing, distribution and pricing of medicines, drug-device and drug-diagnostic combinations. The Journal disseminates information to support the community of professionals working in these highly inter-related functions. Key areas include translational medicine, clinical trial design, pharmacovigilance, clinical toxicology, drug regulation, clinical pharmacology, biostatistics and pharmacoeconomics. The Journal includes:Overviews of contentious or emerging issues.Comprehensive narrative reviews that provide an authoritative source of information on topical issues.Systematic reviews that collate empirical evidence to answer a specific research question, using explicit, systematic methods as outlined by PRISMA statement.Original research articles reporting the results of well-designed studies with a strong link to wider areas of clinical research.Additional digital features (including animated abstracts, video abstracts, slide decks, audio slides, instructional videos, infographics, podcasts and animations) can be published with articles; these are designed to increase the visibility, readership and educational value of the journal’s content. In addition, articles published in Pharmaceutical Medicine may be accompanied by plain language summaries to assist readers who have some knowledge of, but not in-depth expertise in, the area to understand important medical advances.All manuscripts are subject to peer review by international experts. Letters to the Editor are welcomed and will be considered for publication.