The falsified medicines market is a real, clear and present danger to public health. There has been a noteworthy increase in the attention being paid to the threat of counterfeit and substandard medicines, while the public sector in particular is examining the problem more actively.
Counterfeiters operate outside the law and have no regard for patient safety. They infiltrate the legitimate medicines supply chain and they also use unlicensed pharmacy websites to conceal their fake drugs amongst legal medicines.
Falsified medicines may be manufactured in unsupervised environments, and thus may contain dangerous compounds. Using substandard or counterfeit drugs could pose a risk to your health. The regular use of counterfeit medicines may mean you are not getting the therapeutic benefits from the drug, and may lead to drug resistance or create a potential health issue.