Counterfeit medicines represent a serious threat to health. They\ncompromise the patient\u2019s safety and, in the worst case, their survival.\nImitation luxury goods such as watches, bags or clothes harm companies\nfinancially and are frustrating for consumers who have paid a high price for\nwhat they thought were branded products. In all instances, counterfeit products\ninfringe intellectual property rights, which include patent protection,\ntrademarks, copyright and data protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Counterfeit medicinal products are no longer\nrestricted to lifestyle products such as muscle-enhancing substances and\nslimming aids. Nowadays, cancer therapies, medicines to treat cardiovascular\ndiseases, antibiotics, analgesics, contraceptives and other products available\nonly on prescription are also the target of counterfeiters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imitation products may contain the correct\nactive substance, but the dosage may be too high or too low, or it may be\ncontaminated with other substances. The situation can also become dangerous if\nthere is not a trace of the expected active substances in the product, or if\nthey contain another active substance or even a toxic substance. In many cases,\ncounterfeit medicines contain ground bricks or flour, in rare instances other\nactive substances or toxic substances such as insecticides or rat poison.\nAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), ten percent of the world\u2019s\nmedicinal products are counterfeits, and in developing countries this figure is\neven higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In industrialised countries, the majority of\ncounterfeit medicines gain access to the market through online sales. The WHO\nestimates that over 50 percent of medicines bought illegally online may be\ncounterfeit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The strict authorisation procedures for\nmedicinal products, the licensing procedure for manufacture and distribution,\nand established distribution chains are the best ways of ensuring that\nmedicinal products in Switzerland are safe. The purpose of all these efforts is\nto ensure that patients get the prescribed medicine at the right time, in\nflawless quality and with the correct patient information. There is no danger\nof a patient being given counterfeit medicines in Switzerland if they are\nobtained from official sources such as pharmacies, drugstores, hospitals or\ndoctors\u2019 practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pharmaceutical companies work closely\ntogether and with the customs authorities and regulatory authorities.\nManufacturers affix visible and invisible markings to packs of medicinal\nproducts to make imitation more difficult. These markings include holograms,\nink that changes colour or iridescent surfaces. Since 2019, the pharmaceutical\nindustry has also been using tracking technologies such as serial numbers, combined\nwith a two-dimensional data matrix. These technologies enable the medicine to\nbe tracked at all times and each pack to be checked for authenticity. This is\nachieved by marking each pack with a unique serial number that is stored in a\nprotected database. The pharmacist checks the identification code of every\nmedicine before it is dispensed to the patient. The system alerts the\npharmacist if a pack with an unknown number is found, or a pack with a number\nthat has already been scanned prior to being dispensed to this patient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additional measures have been introduced\nthroughout the EU to increase security even further within the regular supply\nchain. Since 2019, for example, packs of prescription-only medicines have been\nequipped with a tamper-proof seal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Interpharma member companies undertake to\nensure that identification features that comply with the European security\nstandard and permit product identification at the point of sale are printed on\nmedicine packs in Switzerland too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Counterfeit medicines represent a serious threat to health. They compromise the patient\u2019s safety and, in the worst case, their survival. Imitation luxury goods such as watches, bags or clothes harm companies financially and are frustrating for consumers who have paid a high price for what they thought were branded products. In all instances, counterfeit products […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4130,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/unterthema.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4250","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n