How to distinguish counterfeit medicine from the original.  How to distinguish counterfeit medicines, counterfeit medicines How to identify original medicines from counterfeits

The quality of treatment is a very important condition for recovery. If only our bodies could cope with illnesses without outside help! But, alas, various types of illnesses are still stronger and can only be dealt with with the help of medications. And to be honest, I can’t imagine how the earth bears creatures, people I can’t even call them people, who counterfeit vital drugs. The topic of this material is counterfeit medicines. Let's try to figure out how to recognize them.

Where do they sell fakes?

By default, medications must be sold in pharmacies. But in search of some rare and vital drugs, you can find suppliers via the Internet or friends of your friends. Be careful, because this is how counterfeits spread. Have you ever met traveling salesmen who offered you luxury perfume at a bargain price, supposedly from a warehouse? Well, if you haven’t fallen for such a bait, then believe an experienced person - this is 100 percent fake, and such a perfume was not even close to the original. And the same with medications. Craftsmen stamp the same boxes and the same blisters, but fill them, at best, with chalk tablets.

Do you think that you can’t buy counterfeit products at a pharmacy? Alas, this is not true. The goods arrive at the pharmacy from the warehouse, and people also work in the warehouse, sometimes not the most honest ones. The author of the counterfeit will offer them a share in the profit - and now the “left” product is on the counter. Law enforcement agencies regularly detain swindlers and uncover clandestine workshops producing counterfeit medicines, but unfortunately, some scammers are being replaced by others. Our task is to be vigilant.

Counterfeit medicines: characteristic signs

So, you are holding the desired product in your hands. How can you tell that it is not real? There are several signs that will help you with this:

• on the box and on the bottle or blister there are different information about the series and date of manufacture of the medicine;
• the cardboard on the packaging is loose, the paint is not printed clearly and is smeared, the text is blurry;
• the instructions for the drug are missing or are not printed in a typographical way, but are made using a photocopy;
• The tablets or capsules do not look as they should. You will understand this if you have previously purchased such a drug

The saddest sign is if the drug did not work as it should. Unfortunately, during the time spent on counterfeiting, the disease can progress and the consequences can become catastrophic.

Options for counterfeit or what could be inside the counterfeit?

At best, there will be chalk, flour or starch inside. You may not even immediately understand that it is a fake, because the so-called placebo effect will be observed.

Another option for the composition of a counterfeit medicine is less effective analogues of the medicine or a significant reduction in the dosage of the medicine. The effect of such a drug will be, but very weak.

And the worst option is when one medicine is replaced by another. For example, you bought a remedy for stomach cramps, but received a laxative.

Where to find information about counterfeiters

There is criminal liability for counterfeiting medicines. All identified drugs must be destroyed. But while the relevant services find all the batches of goods, some of them may linger on the counter of your pharmacy. Take a look at the Rospotrebnadzor website - they promptly publish lists of manufacturers who have committed defects and other violations.

What to do if you realize that the medicine is fake

If you suspect that the purchased medications are counterfeit, feel free to go to the pharmacy and request a certificate of conformity or a declaration for this medication. Check the document through the Rospotrebnadzor website. If it is not registered, contact Roszdravnadzor and the prosecutor’s office.

5 tips that can save your health from counterfeit medicine

1. Buy medications only at the pharmacy.
2. Do not buy a medicine if it is much cheaper at this pharmacy than at all others.
3. Be especially vigilant when purchasing products from the mid-price range. They are most often counterfeited.
4. Don't be fooled by annoying advertisements and colorful flyers in your mailbox.
5. Never purchase medications without consulting your doctor. A miracle drug that your neighbor's friend sells can cause you irreparable harm.

Take care of yourself and your loved ones, be careful about your medications, check them for compliance and strictly follow the dosage!

The pharmaceutical market is, first of all, sales. But here we have a specific product – medicines, which are extremely important for maintaining health and even preserving life. Their cost can reach tens of thousands of rubles or more, so counterfeiting medicines is an extremely profitable, but illegal, activity. It is worth noting that thanks to the coordinated work of various government agencies, counterfeit medicines are becoming less and less every year. However, they have not yet completely left the domestic market and continue to be found in pharmacies throughout Russia. Therefore, it is extremely important to know how to independently check the authenticity of a medicine and where to go if a counterfeit is detected.

Manufacturing counterfeit medicines is a double crime. It is clear that the goal of scammers is to illegally obtain quick and large profits. But at the same time, they endanger the health of thousands of people who expect a good therapeutic effect from the medicine. But it does not heal (this is at best). It turns out that a person is throwing away considerable sums of money, but his health is not improving at all.

More often than others, falsifications of antibacterial drugs, hormonal agents, painkillers, and medicines for the stomach and intestines are detected. Previously, cases of counterfeiting of drugs produced by the pharmaceutical companies Aventis, Biosintez, Biokhimik, Doctor Reddis, ICN Tomsk Chemical Plant, KRKA, Novartis, Moskhimfarmpreparaty, Pliva, "Farmadon", "Ebeve", "Egis", "Jansen" and others.

The path of a medicine to our medicine cabinet begins from the place of its production - a pharmaceutical plant or factory. Here not only drugs are produced and packaged, but also production control of the finished drug on the stability of the dosage form, the concentration of the active substance, etc. Only after internal control are drugs shipped in batches to large and small suppliers.

The latter not only accept thousands of packages of medications and dietary supplements, but are also required to receive accompanying documentation for the medications - Declaration of Conformity. Only after this can suppliers send drugs to pharmacies and pharmacy points, which sell the drugs to the final consumer - the patient. If necessary, employees Roszdravnadzor(Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare) can check the quality of drugs at any stage of their delivery to the patient.

As we see, at every stage from the manufacturer to the patient, drugs undergo internal and external quality control. However, this does not prevent attackers from continuing to counterfeit medicines.

The government is working on the issue of special labeling of drugs (like alcohol or fur coats), with the help of which the authenticity of a drug can be determined in just a couple of minutes. You just need to scan the special sticker code on the packaging with your smartphone and you will immediately understand whether the medicine in front of you is real or counterfeit. Now in some regions of Russia, such marking has already been launched as a pilot test project. What will happen next - time will tell. However, it should be clearly understood that additional methods of protection in the form of such labeling will certainly lead to an increase in the price of medicines (according to legislators, on average by only 1-1.5 rubles). On the other hand, patients will receive only high-quality and effective drugs.

Typically, the patient begins to think about the originality of the drug only when there is no proper therapeutic effect or when uncharacteristic adverse reactions occur. However, the therapeutic effect of the drug and the occurrence of side effects can also be affected by:

1. Incorrect diagnosis and incorrectly prescribed treatment.
2. Violations of the rules for storing and transporting the drug.
3. Failure to comply with the recommended method of use and therapeutic dosage of the drug.

If we omit all these points, then after ineffective treatment, suspicions about a counterfeit medicine are quite natural. So How to identify counterfeit medications?

1. Before or immediately after purchase, carefully look at the packaging of the drug, evaluate its integrity and quality. Look closely at the font of all letters and check the words for errors. You won’t believe it, but attackers quite often make spelling mistakes in the instructions for use and even on the packaging of the drug!
2. If you suspect a counterfeit, you have every right to familiarize yourself with the documentation confirming the quality of the drug - the delivery note from the supplier and the Declaration of Conformity for this batch. Pharmacy organizations must keep an invoice, and the Declaration is sent by the supplier after a corresponding request. Based on the submitted documents, you will be able to assess the originality of the drug.
3. If you have any doubts, you should contact the manufacturer of the drug or the person responsible for receiving claims. Manufacturers always indicate their contact information at the end of the instructions and sometimes on the packaging of the medicine. The manufacturer, more than anyone else, is interested in ensuring that patients receive high-quality treatment with real medicine.

Check medicine online

You can check the authenticity of the medicine using the barcode. To do this, look at the first 2-3 digits of the code and make sure that the country of origin matches the information on the packaging. It is important to note that such a check does not guarantee the authenticity of the drug, since fraudsters can indicate the barcode of the original drug. However, such a check will not be superfluous.

Barcode codes for different countries

The second step is checking the authenticity of the medicine by serial number. To do this, you need to go to the Register of Medicines Withdrawn from Circulation, which is maintained by Roszdravnadzor on the basis of daily inspection of certain batches of drugs.

To perform a search, click on the button "Advanced Search", fill in the fields TN(trade name) and Series. This will be enough for the system to operate correctly. Next, click the button "Show results". As a result, we can get one of two results:

1. “No data available” means that there are no restrictions on this drug or this series of the drug. Roszdravnadzor did not find any violations in the medicine.
2. A list appears with the name of the drug - carefully read the attached information letter, check the series again. If you have a drug in your hands, the circulation of which must be stopped, then you must stop taking it.

Perhaps these are all the measures that the average person can take to check the quality of drugs. Next, professionals must step in. A more detailed analysis of drugs is carried out by Roszdravnadzor based on laboratory and visual studies of a batch of drugs. Based on the results of such a check, certain drug names may be recalled.

What to do if a fake is detected?

If a low-quality medicinal product is detected, you should:

1. Contact the pharmacy with the receipt and the drug package itself for a refund. We recommend that you take with you the information letter about the recall of this series of medicines, which Roszdravnadzor posts on its website.
2. If there is no such letter yet, and the drug is clearly counterfeit, then you need to contact expert services - the Ministry of Health of the region and Roszdravnadzor, which initiate an inspection on suspicion of a counterfeit drug. Upon completion, the executive authorities will notify the applicant about the results of the inspection and the measures taken.

How to avoid buying counterfeit medicine?

Everyone has their own methods of checking a medicine for originality...

Overall, be careful. Carefully study the packaging and instructions for use of the drug for errors, uncharacteristic defects, and inaccuracies. Check medications yourself, and if necessary, contact specialists. We hope that soon, thanks to the work of legislators, health officials and the responsibility of the population, counterfeit drugs will completely disappear from the pharmaceutical market.

Every buyer can encounter a counterfeit medicine. Unfortunately, in our country there is a huge amount of counterfeit medicines in pharmacies. Do not offend doctors and do not rush to blame for incorrect treatment or diagnosis of the disease; perhaps the medications you are taking are counterfeit.

WHAT ARE FALSE AND COUNTERFEIT MEDICINES (TABLETS)?

FAKE (FAKE) THIS IS No. 2: The composition of the drug is changed to a cheaper and less effective drug. This makes the production of drugs more expensive and reduces their effectiveness.

FAKE (FAKE) THIS IS No. 3: The active substances included in the medicine are greatly underestimated, thus the dosage of the medicine becomes five or even ten times weaker than in the original medicine. Such a medicine causes the harm described in the first case, and often doctors cannot determine what is causing the deterioration in the patient’s health. It turns out that to achieve the effect you need to take significantly more tablets than with normal medications.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN THE PACKAGING OF A FALSE (COUNTESTED) MEDICINE FROM THE ORIGINAL?

HOW TO VISUALLY DISTINGUISH ORIGINAL TABLETS FROM FAKE TABLETS?

Anyone can encounter a counterfeit medicine, and this happens because in Russia, unfortunately, as in all countries of the world, on the pharmaceutical market you can buy falsified, that is, counterfeit medicines instead of real medicines, states pharmcontrol.ru.

A person, unfortunately, often gets sick, so he is forced to take medicine. However, it happens that the medicine does not help, although earlier, when taking the same medicine, the treatment effect occurred. Or, having bought a medicine, we notice that the color of the tablets is some kind of dirty gray, there is not that whiteness and gloss that the tablets of the same medicine you bought and took before had. Or, having freed the tablet from the packaging, we see that it has lost its shape: it has cracked or crumbled. All these changes with the medicine are not a hallucination, but a reality.

Counterfeits are not equal in quality and effectiveness to original drugs, since under the guise of one drug there may be another, or they contain no pharmacologically active active ingredients at all, or there are not enough of them, or this medicine has expired, but is repackaged in a new package on which a different, longer shelf life is indicated. Medicines are also recognized as counterfeit because they are produced illegally, without the knowledge and permission of the copyright holder, and do not undergo the control provided for legal products.

An analysis of the activities of practicing doctors shows that in a number of cases, doctors are little informed about the problem of counterfeit drugs, therefore, episodes of insufficient therapeutic effect when using known drugs, manifestations of atypical side effects, an increase in the frequency of allergic reactions, they are usually associated with incorrect selection of the drug or dosage, predisposition patient for allergies, etc. At the same time, the vast majority of doctors and patients do not even assume that counterfeit medicine may be to blame for all this.

In the Russian consumer market, the number of counterfeit goods, including medicines, is growing every year. The share of counterfeits in the total volume of sales of consumer goods in 2007 reached 35% (in developed countries - only 5%), and for some groups of goods even higher figures.

According to experts, the volume of counterfeits of some product groups in 2007 was:

• medicines - 10-12%,
• food products - 25%,
• alcoholic products - 30%,
• shoes and clothes - 40%,
• cosmetic and synthetic detergents - 55%.

Counterfeit medicines, unlike counterfeits of other product groups, pose the greatest threat to the health and life of not only an individual consumer or group of consumers, but also the health of the nation as a whole, and therefore are one of the most serious problems not only in Russia, but in almost all countries of the world.

Experts from the World Health Organization suggest that every twentieth drug on the world market is counterfeit, and in developing countries - every third. The volume of trade in counterfeit medicines in 2005 amounted to more than 11%, and by 2010, according to experts, it will reach 16% of all medicines sold on the world market. The losses of the world's pharmaceutical companies from the actions of offenders in 2005 amounted to $39 billion, and according to expert forecasts, by 2010 they will reach $75 billion.

In 2005, 64 names of drugs containing 226 falsified batches were identified on the Russian pharmaceutical market, which is less than 1% of all drugs sold. Is it a lot or a little? This can be understood by performing simple arithmetic operations. It is known that each series of a drug produced in the form of tablets is officially produced in quantities of at least 500 thousand packages. It can be assumed that counterfeiters produce no less number of counterfeit packages of each series. Knowing the number of falsified batches and the number of packages in one batch, we multiply the first by the second and get 113 million counterfeit packages. If every citizen bought one package of such a medicine, then it can be assumed that 113 million people would endanger their health as a result of taking it. And if a person has a serious chronic disease, such as heart disease, and during an attack he takes a low-quality medicine, then such “treatment” can result in death.

When counterfeiting medicines, like any other product (food, shoes, clothing, cigarettes, audio-video products, etc.), offenders, first of all, strive to give them and their packaging the appearance of the original product, without focusing attention on their quality and composition. For example, when producing counterfeit medicine in tablet form, counterfeiters strive to accurately reproduce the shape, color and weight of the original tablet.

As a rule, the primary and secondary packaging of a counterfeit medicine, as well as the medicine itself, is made in the form of an exact copy of the original one, however, counterfeiters are not always able to select identical material: cardboard, foil, paint and other materials for the manufacture of packaging, which distinguishes it from the original . Thanks to this, a counterfeit can be visually distinguished from the original drug by appearance. For example, counterfeits of the drug “Suprastin”, produced in the form of tablets, differ from the original in the following ways:

• the engraving “Suprastin” on the counterfeit tablet, unlike the original one, is clearer and deeper, the letters are angular, not round;
• the height of the tablets is 3.18 mm, not 2.82 mm;
• on the blister (primary packaging) the dosage indication “mg” is printed in bold font, on the original - in regular font;
• the name of the manufacturing plant "EGIS", indicated on the front side of the blister (primary packaging), was printed on the back side in the form of an imprint, there is no imprint on the original;
• on cardboard (secondary) packaging, the batch number, expiration date, and production date are not deeply embossed, are difficult to distinguish, and are difficult to read;
• The color of the cardboard (recycled) packaging is cream instead of white, with a grayish tint.

(More information about the signs of falsified and rejected drugs can be found in the letters of Roszdravnadzor, which are posted on the Internet at regmed.ru .).

It should be noted that counterfeits of this medicine were detected 22 times. Moreover, the medicine and packaging of each counterfeit series, and 27 of them were identified, contained from 3 to 4 distinctive features, and not all of the above. This may indicate that these counterfeits were produced by different counterfeiters. Some series were not produced by the copyright holder at all, and therefore counterfeits of these series were completely withdrawn from circulation, without taking into account whether they contained distinctive features or not.

In recent years, several counterfeits have been identified due to spelling errors contained in words in the text of the instructions (for example, in the word medical, the letter “i” was written instead of “e”).

An analysis of the practice of combating counterfeit and counterfeit goods in Russia showed that, in comparison with other groups of goods that are subject to counterfeiting and falsification, the identification and recording of counterfeit medicines is the most organized, this process is centralized and streamlined. One of the elements of this process is the maintenance, since 1999, of a constantly updated register (list) of falsified and rejected medicines and their series, indicating the characteristics that distinguish them from quality medicines.

At numerous forums held in Russia dedicated to the safety and quality of medicines, it was noted that the measures taken by the state to combat the counterfeit of medicines are insufficient. In this regard, citizens themselves need to take all possible measures to protect themselves from counterfeit medicines.

When purchasing medicines, as well as when purchasing other goods and food products, it is necessary to inspect the packaging and medicine so as not to buy, and most importantly, not to accept a counterfeit instead of a real medicine.

This way you will not only help yourself, but also save many of your compatriots from low-quality medicine. It was on the initiative of consumers, based on their complaints, that more than 20% of low-quality and about 10% of counterfeit medicines were identified and withdrawn from circulation. For example, one of the counterfeit drugs was identified thanks to the attentiveness of a pensioner who has been taking the same medicine for several years. She noticed that the expiration date on the packaging of the medicine she received was different than on the packaging of the same medicine received earlier, while the batch number was the same on both packages. This difference caused the woman to have a reasonable suspicion about the authenticity of the medicine. Further inspection confirmed the woman’s suspicions - the medicine turned out to be counterfeit and there was no certification.

Some tips when purchasing medicines in pharmacies.

1. It is advisable to purchase medications from pharmacies and only from those that have Roszdravnadzor information about rejected and falsified medications ( Otherwise, how can you sell medicine without such information!). The greatest chance of buying a counterfeit or rejected medicine is in small pharmacies, such as pharmacy kiosks, pharmacy stores and pharmacies on wheels. Such pharmacies are only allowed to sell drugs that are sold without a prescription.

The pharmaceutical market is growing very rapidly, a large number of new drugs are appearing, which do not always correspond to the declared composition, may be of poor quality or even fake. Therefore, it would be useful to know how to check the authenticity of a medicine so as not to pay money for simple chalk or glucose.

Signs of a counterfeit drug

A counterfeit will always have differences from the original, so it can be recognized by the following indicators:

• the cost of the drug differs sharply from the average price in the city and is too low;
• the packaging is made of thin cardboard, the colors and inscriptions are pale, unclear, possibly blurry;
• barcode, series and number are difficult to read, blurred in several places;
• the instructions look more like a photocopy than a printed sheet;
• It is worth paying attention not only to the quality of printing of the recommendation, but also to how it is folded: in a fake, the instructions may be located separately from the drug, but in a genuine product, the bottle or plates with tablets divide it clearly in half;
• the series, release date, expiration date on the packaging and the drug do not completely match or differ in one number.

Methods for verifying the authenticity of a medicine

If it is in doubt whether it has at least one of the listed signs, then it is worth knowing how to check the authenticity of the medicine, what methods exist for this. Whether the remedy is real or not can be determined by the following methods:

• Ask the pharmacist for the relevant product, delivery note and declaration for it. Using these documents, you can check on the Roszdravnadzor website whether a given drug is registered in the system.
• By barcode - one of the effective ways to determine counterfeit, it is done by arithmetic addition of all numbers, the sum of which must coincide with the control number.
• By series, number and name of the drug through the portal "quality.rf" or the website of Roszdravnadzor.

How to check the authenticity of a medicine using a barcode

Any registered and legally produced product has a special barcode, which consists of a set of numbers. This labeling of products allows you to know the authenticity of the drug. Each number encrypts data about the country of origin, enterprise, product, its properties, color, size, the last number is a control number, it allows you to check the originality of the medicine.

To calculate the check digit, the following arithmetic calculations must be made:

• first add up all the numbers in even positions, i.e. 2, 4 and so on;
• the resulting amount from the first point must be multiplied by 3;
• then add up the numbers in odd places: 1, 3, 5, etc., except for the control number;
• now it is necessary to summarize the data obtained in points 2 and 3, and discard the tens from this sum;
• the number that was obtained in point 5 is subtracted from 10; the final result must coincide with the control number.

For a better understanding of how to check the authenticity of a medicine using a barcode, you can give the following example of calculations with code 4606782066911:

• 6 + 6 + 8 + 0 + 6 + 1 = 27;
• 27 x 3 = 81;
• 4 + 0 + 7 + 2 + 6 + 9 = 28;
• 81 + 28 = 109;
• 10 - 9 = 1.

Based on these calculations, the control and final numbers coincide and equal 1, therefore, the product is genuine.

The discrepancy between the data obtained indicates that the product was produced illegally and is counterfeit.

How to check the authenticity of a medicine by series and number

Another way to check a drug is to check its basic data: name, series and number. Roszdravnadzor provides the public with the opportunity to control the authenticity of medicines through their website, where information is published on inspections of preclinical and clinical trials of drugs, as well as information on the results of these activities.

In addition, you can check the medicine through the portal "quality.rf", where there is all the necessary information related to the drugs: about manufacturers, important news about government proposals and decisions in the field of medicine, about the quality of products presented on the Russian pharmaceutical market.

The portal "quality.rf" has a section that helps answer the question of how to check the authenticity of a medicine by series online. To do this, you need to go to the “Quality Control” catalog and enter the necessary data, after which a sign will appear with a decision to authorize or prohibit the release of the drug.

How not to buy a counterfeit?

To avoid purchasing a fake, you must consider the following recommendations:

• buy medications only in the pharmacy chain, do not take drugs by hand, from distributors, in small kiosks or stalls, on the Internet;
• You should not purchase products without a doctor’s prescription, on the advice of a pharmacist;
• It is recommended to ask the pharmacist for a quality certificate, compare the information indicated in it with that contained on the drug packaging;
• It is better to refrain from buying an advertised product, as there is a high probability of falling for a fake.

Where to go if you discover a counterfeit?

When considering the question of how to check the authenticity of a medicine, it is necessary to tell where to go if the purchased drug is in doubt, it has several clear signs of a counterfeit, and the drug has not passed any of the methods for identifying the original. In this case, the medicine must be subjected to laboratory tests that can confirm or refute the counterfeit.

There are scientific centers in almost all regions of Russia, the location of which can be found on the Roszdravnadzor website. To do this, you need to go to the “Medicines” catalog, select the “Quality Control of Medicines” section, where in the “Reference Information” subsection all accredited laboratories operating in the Russian Federation are indicated.

To clarify the conditions of the examination, it is recommended to contact the required laboratory. In addition, it is necessary to bring information about the counterfeit medicine to the attention of the territorial body of Roszdravnadzor.

Thus, if you detect any signs of counterfeiting, it is important to know how to check the authenticity of the medicine by series, number, barcode, and also where to go if the medicine has not passed the originality test.

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