Deadly Counterfeit Drugs

 

One Pill Can Kill is a new campaign to raise awareness about deadly counterfeit drugs (Ciletti, 2021). Counterfeit, falsified, and substandard prescription drugs are a threat to global health. While some fake drugs have been identified in the legitimate drug supply chain, online discount “pharmacies” make up the bulk of the counterfeit drugs worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (2018), every region in the world is impacted. 

        According to the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, some rare but serious pharmaceutical breaches occurred in oral contraceptives, the cholesterol medicine Lipitor, and breast cancer and anemia drugs (White, 2021). The WHO identified anti-malarials, pain medicine, and antibiotics as the most frequently falsified (2018). The pharmaceutical community has recommended diligent and rigorous inspection and verification to identify fraudulent medications and prevent their dispensing into the general population (White, 2021). Rogue manufacturers specifically target drugs with short supply and high demand. 

        Most counterfeit prescription drugs are purchased in online pharmacies or social media sites by older adults and uninsured patients who want lower prices and unlimited refills without a prescription. While there are over 50,000 internet pharmacies, most of the rogue pharmacies claim to be “Canadian” but are from India and other developing countries (White, 2021). They are produced in unsanitary conditions and have been known to contain bacteria, chalk, cement, corn starch, and potato starch (WHO, 2018). Other deadly ingredients have also been found. 

        Recently, the Drug Enforcement Agency [DEA] in the United States issued a public safety alert, their first in six years. The DEA has found a dramatic increase in counterfeit drugs with lethal doses of the highly toxic and lethal drug, fentanyl (Mann & Newman, 2021). In 2021, the DEA has seized almost ten million fake pills that look almost identical to the legitimate drug. The majority are opioid medicines like oxycodone, Percocet, or Adderall, and have resulted in 93,000 overdose deaths last year. 

        Below are some resources to help my readers understand the enormous scope of the counterfeit drug problem and steps toward eradicating substandard or falsified drugs. Don't take a chance on your health: It's a matter of life and death. AgeDoc

 

Resources:

 

Caletti, N. (27 September, 2021). DEA warns of fake prescription drugs laced with fentanyl and meth. Arizona News. Retrieved from

https://www.abc15.com/news/state/dea-warns-of-fake-prescription-drugs-laced-with-fentanyl-meth

 

DEA One Pill Can Kill Campaign: https://www.dea.gov/onepill 

 

Mann, B., & Neuman, S. (27 September, 2021). The DEA is warning of a rise in overdose deaths from fake drugs laced with fentanyl. All Things Considered, National Public Radio. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2021/09/27/1040899776/dea-public-safety-alert-fake-prescription-drugs-fentanyl

 

World Health Organization [WHO]: Substandard and falsified medical products (31 January 2018). Retrieved from

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/substandard-and-falsified-medical-products