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Partnership for Safe Medicines Offers Consumer Tips to Identify and Protect Against Counterfeit Drugs

Posted on: Thursday, 24 March 2005, 15:00 CST

WASHINGTON, March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The Partnership for Safe Medicines, a national coalition of patient, physician, pharmacist, university, industry and professional organizations, today released safety tips to help consumers assure that the prescription drugs they take are safe and effective. The new guide, "S.A.F.E. D.R.U.G.," was released in response to the growing number of counterfeit drug convictions and a substantial increase in U.S. counterfeit drug investigations.

Partnership drug safety experts say Americans are increasingly likely to encounter fake or ineffective medication due to a combination of more sophisticated criminal activity and borders overwhelmed by unregulated foreign drugs.

"Counterfeit drugs in America are a serious problem," said Bryan A. Liang, MD, JD, executive director of the Institute of Health Law Studies at California Western School of Law, Co-Director, San Diego Center for Patient Safety at UCSD School of Medicine, and an expert advisor to the Partnership for Safe Medicines. "Counterfeiters are getting more sophisticated at exploiting weak links in the supply chain and expanding the types of drugs they're faking. Americans must be more vigilant about the prescription drugs they're taking."

The Partnership released its consumer tips in light of recent events including:

* In 2004, FDA-initiated counterfeit drug investigations reportedly rose

more than 150 percent over the previous year.

* The World Health Organization estimated global sales of counterfeit

drugs to be $32 billion in 2003.

* The Pharmaceutical Security Institute reported that the value of

seized, counterfeit and diverted drugs in 2003 in the United States

alone was almost $200 million, a sevenfold increase from the previous

year.

* Marv Shepherd, Ph.D., Director for Pharmacoeconomic Studies at the

University of Texas in Austin, said the primary categories targeted by

counterfeiters include products linked to health alerts, like flu

vaccine, expensive medications, lifestyle drugs and specialized-

treatment drugs, like those for AIDS and anemia.

"S.A.F.E. D.R.U.G." is a "how-to" guide for avoiding, identifying and reporting counterfeits and offers eight tips categorized as: Sample, Appearance, Feel, Evaluate, Doctor, Report, Unavailable and Gather. These tips help consumers judge whether their medications are safe, and what to do if they feel a drug has been compromised.

For example, the "Sample" tip recommends that consumers request pill samples from their physician when first having a medication prescribed in order to compare the appearance, taste, texture and reaction later to medications filled through the doctor's prescription.

A complete copy of the "S.A.F.E. D.R.U.G." guide is available for consumers on the Partnership's Web site at http://www.safemedicines.org/.

About the Partnership for Safe Medicines

The Partnership for Safe Medicines is a coalition of patient, physician, pharmacist, university, industry and other professional organizations committed to the safety of prescription drugs and protecting consumers against unapproved, counterfeit, substandard, mishandled or otherwise unsafe medicines. For more information, visit us online at http://www.safemedicines.org/.

CONTACT: Jonathan Osmundsen, +1-202-339-0111, josmundsen@ccapr.com, for the Partnership for Safe Medicines.

Partnership for Safe Medicines

CONTACT: Jonathan Osmundsen, +1-202-339-0111, josmundsen@ccapr.com, forthe Partnership for Safe Medicines

Web site: http://www.safemedicines.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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