“The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that you bring with you all the drugs that you think you will need during your trip, rather than buying them while you are traveling.”
Falsified drugs are medications manufactured using ingredients that may be ineffective, inaccurate, or dangerous. Falsified medications are marketed and branded as brand-name drugs or generic drugs. Fake advertising is to make you think you’re purchasing a real item.
Risks that counterfeit prescription drugs can cause:
If you use a falsified medicine, you may be at risk for serious health problems, including unforeseen side effects, allergic reactions, or a worsening of your health. This can arise because a falsified drug can:
- Be tainted by harmful substances.
- It may have the incorrect active ingredient that may not cure your condition.
- Create unwanted side effects that have too little or no active ingredient to treat your condition.
- Having too many active ingredients can induce unnecessary and potentially hazardous side effects.
- The drugs may be wrapped in bogus packaging that may have wrong directions on how to use the drug.
How do falsified medications look like?
A falsified medicine can look like the medication’s genuine copy. Sadly, the only way to determine that it was counterfeit is by running a chemical test in a facility. There are, indeed, certain signs that your prescription may be falsified. Falsified tablets, for example, may:
- Have a pungent smell, flavor, or color.
- Break down very quickly or be broken or chipped.
- In poor quality packets with badly spelled labels or labels with instructions that are incorrect.
- It may seem to cost very little, especially compared to the normal price of that particular drug.
How will you identify that the drugs you are using are counterfeit?
If you’re worried about having a falsified drug, don’t try it. Show the drug to the pharmacist; the person who is most acquainted with the nature of the product and its labeling.
Your pharmacist will know if your prescription medication manufacturer has recently changed the drug’s appearance, flavor, or packaging. In particular, if your prescription has moved from one generic drug maker to another generic drug company, the medication’s color or design might vary. In this situation, the pharmacist will be able to verify that your prescription is not falsified and clarify the switch.
Where do the falsified drugs come from?
According to the U.S. regulatory body, counterfeiting of medicines happens less often in the U.S. than in other nations due to regulations regulating the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of drugs, and strict enforcement against violators.
The major source for counterfeits was purchasing drugs from illegal online pharmacies in the U.S. Falsified narcotics often reach the U.S. by trafficking and are brought into the country by tourists who purchase the medication while on vacation or business trips.
What can you do to avoid these counterfeit drugs?
There are several steps you can do to shield yourself from the dangers of falsified medications, including:
- Purchase your prescription drugs from approved drug stores in the U.S. Although it is probable, counterfeiting is uncommon for drugs bought at a legitimate U.S. pharmacy.
- When purchasing drugs on the Internet, be very patient. If you choose to purchase medicines online, search for websites with the seal of Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS). These are accredited stores where you can legally purchase US body-approved drugs. The VIPPS seal is carried by fifteen online pharmacies.
- Know the medicine. Pay attention to the labeling, directions on how to administer it, and the nature of the product itself when you collect the prescription. If you have any questions, do not take the medication.
Healthy Life 