The Startling Reality
Counterfeit medicine is fake medicine, and they are a threat to the health and safety of patients around the world.
Counterfeit medicines are dangerous by their very nature – they are not produced under safe manufacturing conditions and they are not inspected by regulatory authorities. It is impossible to know what ingredients counterfeit medicines contain. Sophisticated counterfeiters will put some of the active ingredient in the fake medicine and make it look very similar to the real medicine.
The primary danger in taking a counterfeit medicine is that you are putting something into your body that not only may not help your current condition, but more alarmingly could result in harmful effects to your overall health.
No country or product is immune to the threat of counterfeit. Even in countries generally considered "safe," such as Canada, the United States, and many in the European Union, counterfeit medicines have entered the supply chain. The types of counterfeit medicines offered for sale without a prescription include, but are not limited to, lifesaving medicines such as those to treat cancer, bacterial infection antibiotics, diabetes, and anti-inflammatory medicines.
Reputable online pharmacies will ask for a prescription issued by a relevant healthcare professional and provide adequate warnings about the possible side effects of the drug.
Pfizer’s Anti-Counterfeiting Program
It is precisely because of the threat that counterfeit medicines pose to patients that Pfizer has implemented an aggressive and focused campaign to detect, disrupt and deter major manufacturers and distributors of counterfeit Pfizer medicines.
We work with wholesalers, pharmacies, customs offices, and law enforcement agencies worldwide to increase inspection coverage, monitor distribution channels, and improve surveillance of distributors and re-packagers. Most significantly, we conduct and manage pro-active investigations and refer the cases we develop to enforcement authorities. Our investigations are initiated in response to “leads” from a variety of sources, including complaints from patients and healthcare professionals, observations by members of our sales force, information concerning changes in sales volume and patterns from confidential informants and intelligence from enforcement authorities.