The recent “Intellectual Property Crime Threat Assessment 2022” by European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and Europol proves that:
- “The distribution and use of counterfeit medicines and medical supplies can cause significant direct harm to the health of victims”
- “Some fake medicines contain less/no active ingredients compared to the genuine products”
- “In some other cases, counterfeit pharmaceuticals contain more potent ingredients or greater concentrations that can have extreme consequences for human health. In some cases this has caused death by overdose”
- “Fake pharmaceutical products are often manufactured in unsanitary or dangerous conditions”
- “Clandestine illicit laboratories harm the environment by producing chemical waste that is not disposed of properly”
- “Pharma crime also harms the legitimate pharmaceutical sector and reduces the funds available for research and development and product innovation”
Read more here.
This is why the European Medicines Verification System has been introduced in order to protect the EU and EEA and Switzerland and the UK citizens against the fake medicines. You may read more on the initiative here.
