TOGETHER – PROTECTION AGAINST COUNTERFEITS!

Опубліковано 03.02.2022 о 12:50

Falsified medicines. Tips to consumers to be protected. Unregistered websites that offer drugs that hide the seller’s physical address, phone number, etc. are often a source of substandard, smuggled and counterfeit drugs.

Falsified medicines can lead to disease or inappropriate treatment, pose a potential threat to life and health and are dangerous!2

  1. How to avoid buying falsified medicines?

Steps to help minimize the risk of purchasing falsified medicines:

  • Buy medicines from legitimate distribution networks – pharmacies. Do not buy medicines from private individuals, by advertisement, on the Internet (where no contact information and pharmacy address). Each pharmacy must have a license to retail trade in medicines. Information about the availability of a license is generally found in the consumer’s corner. If not, ask pharmacist. The address of the pharmacy must be listed in the license and must necessarily coincide the actual address;
  • Demand receipt;
  • Avoid unregistered websites offering medicines that hide the physical address, phone number, etc.;
  • In case of doubt about the quality of the medicinal product, require a Quality Certificate issued by the manufacturer (for imported medicines – importer);
  • All medicines imported into the territory of Ukraine for further sale are subject to State control by the SMDC. If case of doubts as to the quality of foreign-made medicines, check the information on the SMDC website in the section “Information on findings on quality of imported medicines and conclusions of medical immunobiological products”) for information on Sate control of the quality of medicines.
  1. How can falsified medicines be identified?

Some falsified medicines are visually almost identical to the real ones and are very difficult to detect. However, most of them can be detected by following steps:

  • Check the packaging carefully for integrity, absence of spelling or grammatical errors;
  • Check the manufacturing date, expiration date, batch number and make sure that all dates and data on the outer packaging (if any) correspond to the data on the inner packaging and instruction for medical use which are permitted to be used in Ukraine;
  • Check for a registration number in Ukraine, which has such a format UA/00000/00/00, if there is no such number on the package, there is no medicine in front of you;
  • Make sure the medicine looks right (according to the instruction for medical use), are not discolored, have no unusual smell, are contaminated, etc.;
  • If there are protective seals, holograms, they must be intact and without signs of falsification;
  • If you suspect that the medicine is not working properly or that an adverse reaction has occurred, discuss this with your doctor as soon as possible.
  1. Are falsified medicines available online?

Unregistered websites that offer medicines, that conceal the seller’s physical address, phone number, etc. are often a source of substandard, smuggled and falsified medicines.

Consumers need to know the following!

  • Do not respond to a spam with a drug advertisement;
  • Do not buy medicines on illegal websites;
  • Website of an e-retailer should contain: information on contact details of the licensing authority and the state quality control authorities; logo with hyperlink displayed on each page of the website which takes the consumer to the List of business entities page for eligible e-retailers in medicines (such a logo is used exclusively by pharmacies on the List of Business Entities entitled to e-retailing).
  • Beware of medicines with suspiciously low prices.
  1. What to do if there is a suspicion that the purchased medicines are falsified?

In case of doubt about the quality of the purchased medicine, you have the right:

Require a quality certificate for the medicinal product in the pharmacy, which must be provided within one day in accordance with the Procedure for release of medicinal products and medical devices from pharmacies and their structural units, approved by the order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine from 19.07.2005 № 360;

Apply to the SMDC territorial authority, whose contact details are available in the trading floor of each pharmacy and on the official SMDC website, or call the SMDC hotline (+ 38067-359-85-63);

Fill in the electronic form of notification on the quality/suspicion of falsification of the medicinal product, which is on the home page of the official SMDC website (www.dls.gov.ua).

  1. Useful links for consumers

On the official website, in the section “State Registers” useful resources are placed, according to the link:

State Registers (Державні реєстри)

  • State Register of Medicinal Products of Ukraine (you can check the state registration in Ukraine);
  • Information on illicit drugs and drugs whose circulation has been renewed (orders of the State Medical Service and letters on resumption of circulation);
  • Information on issued Conclusions on the quality of imported drugs and Conclusions of compliance of medical immunobiological drugs;
  • License register for the production of medicines (in pharmacies), wholesale and retail trade in medicines;
  • Register of licenses for the production (manufacture) of medicinal products (in pharmacies), wholesale and retail trade in medicinal products, whose validity has been suspended in whole or in part.

Attention!

If you have additional questions or want to report incidents, such as falsified medicines, please contact the State Service of Ukraine on Medicines and Drugs Control (dls@dls.gov.ua) or fill out an electronic application at the link

Submission of a report on the quality/suspicion of falsification of the medicinal product (Подання повідомлення стосовно якості / підозри щодо фальсифікації лікарського засобу)

In addition, the e-application contains hotline contact numbers and persons responsible for the quality of medicines.

If you have found a spelling error, please, notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.

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Попередня

The State Service of Ukraine on Medicines and Drugs Control started accepting applications for licensing of medicines e-retail

Наступна

The State Service of Ukraine on Medicines and Drugs Control informs on recognition of the results of the assessment of conformity of medical products