Reporting

• Call your pharmacy
• Contact local law enforcement
• Call: 1-800-FDA-1088
• Visit: FDA counterfeit drugs webpage
• Contact PSI

You can also go to this website and check your prospective online pharmacy to see if it is safe!

• BUYSAFEDRUGS

As one can easily see counterfeit drugs are a huge problem. This problem easily goes unnoticed throughout the whole world; unless one is directly affected by it and even then counterfeit drugs may not receive the credit for what they have done. Intervention is greatly needed. From all the research I have done, I believe that different places need different strategies to help stop counterfeit drugs. The first step would be getting people aware of what is going on and have them take it upon themselves to watch and regulate what drugs they bring into their homes. One should only buy their drugs from safe sources and get a receipt. Do not purchase drugs from open markets or online. If buying drugs online is what one is going to do then a visit to the FDA website would be a wise decision. A first step to helping stop counterfeit drugs is education. If one has bought a drug and suspects that it may be a fake then you can go to the FDA website[2] and report the drug and fill out a form. It would be best to keep the drug and all the information about it (i.e. where you bought it from and the company’s name). Healthcare workers or pharmacists can also call the FDA to report a suspicious drug (1-800-FDA-1088). Counterfeit drugs can be reduced if people and health care professionals take heed and quick action.

To help the world fight against counterfeit drugs, individuals need to take it upon themselves individually and in their communities to end it. The WHO, NAFDAC, IMPACT, CDC, and other organizations are all trying their best to end the production and distribution of fake drugs. There needs to be stricter rules and regulations of drugs that are manufactured in a country and is being shipped to another. Customs officers need to “crack” down on what is entering their countries. They need to be more educated and need to report their findings as soon as something comes up. A personal intervention strategy that should be used, besides the education of individuals, is the formulation of stricter laws on the drugs themselves on the pharmacies that dispense them.

This world is relatively small in reference to worldwide communication. Counterfeit drugs are a huge problem and need to be stopped. Innocent people all over the globe have suffered from this dilemma. This problem is being researched and attempts are being made to stop this plight. Different organizations have been made in hopes of eradicating the use of counterfeit drugs. These drugs have been reported all over the world, with the exception of Alaska, who has not reported any. Counterfeit drugs can be classified as being counterfeit by many different things; such as, wrong labeling, misspelling, their pricing, wrong active ingredient, not enough of the active ingredient, wrong chemicals, and many other ways. It is estimated that around 15% of all the drugs sold around the world are counterfeit drugs. Informing oneself on counterfeit drugs can help stop them. This is more of a problem in developing countries than in developed countries. Stopping Counterfeit drugs begins individually, if one sees any suspicious drugs one should call the FDA or contact their pharmacy.