The Peterson Group
Watchdog of Counterfeit and Illegal Drugs
Basic Facts about Counterfeit Drugs
The Peterson Group hopes to boost public awareness about counterfeit drugs through this article. Expect to see substantial information related to counterfeits and other essential tips to be a smart buyer to ensure that you won’t become a victim of this type of drug. The organization is known for being an information website and watchdog of counterfeit and illegal drugs.
Whatever status you have in life, it’s given that all of us need medicines when one of our family members needs medications. However, your expected results may become the total opposite where you or your family member was not treated properly. Counterfeit drugs are often considered as the main reason for this kind of incident. About 80% of counterfeit drugs came from the countries of India, Mexico, and China according to reports.
The Peterson Group recommends that you should be extra careful when you’re purchasing medicines because fake tablets are usually identical to the real ones. Counterfeits are usually mislabeled and illegally produced. They are also produced in substandard conditions and are incorrectly formulated to have the wrong amount of active ingredients. Furthermore, some counterfeits have dangerous and unapproved substance.
You may not be expecting it but counterfeit pharmaceuticals are regarded as a BIG business. It became a booming industry worth $75 billion a year worldwide. Just imagine that big amount of money made through illegal means.
Incidents on Adderall and Avastin are some of the known counterfeit drugs cases in the United States for the past few years. Aside from these drugs, there are also other drugs that are often targeted to be counterfeited, including Pfizer’s Viagra, generic antibiotics, tuberculosis drugs, AIDS and malaria medicines, cancer medicines, anxiety drugs Xanax and Ativan, pain drugs Percocet and Vicodin, antipsychotic drugs Zyprexa and Risperdal, antidepressant Zoloft, and cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor.
Counterfeit drugs can bring dangerous and even deadly effects to the body. Toxicity symptoms and treatment failure can happen to an individual if the amount of active ingredient is too high or too low. And the worst thing that could happen is death. Inactive ingredients found in counterfeits usually include acetaminophen, chalk, flour, gypsum, sugar and talcum powder. In rare cases, poisonous ingredients are also found in some counterfeits.
Avoid suspicious online pharmacies, but if you’re going to buy on a particular site, see to it that it has a legitimate street address, contact number, and pharmacist. You can check if the site is certified or not through the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) because the organization has a list of accredited online pharmacies.
Drugs.com’s Pill Identifier can help you quickly and easily recognize pills by imprint, shape, color and drug name if you’re having a prescription filled for the first time, or if you believe you’re given a different medicine. If the drug seems counterfeit, take it to your pharmacist right away for verification.
Pharmaceutical companies have been doing anti-counterfeiting measures to contain the counterfeit problem, and some of which includes chemical fingerprints, chromatography, digital serial number identification, digital serial number identification, holographic labels, infra-red inks, radio-frequency identification, and supply chain tracking.
As a consumer, you need to be a smart buyer and take responsibility for every medicine you purchase and The Peterson Group advise you to educate yourself on the important details of your medicines.