Falsified drugs are ending up on chemists’ counters. MEPs hope tighter controls, obligatory seals and approved internet sites can stop this illicit trade.

Silent killers

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/15450803/N001-110216-002-EN.srt

Falsified medicines pose  a real danger to public health.

Between 1% to 3% of these fake  medicines end up on chemists’ counters.

MEPs called for tighter controls of  the production chain

And if it is destroyed  the patient should be suspicious

and should ask the pharmacist  if there is something wrong.

In the pharmacy  you can scan the product

and you can see if it really is  the original product.

The risk increases when medicines  are bought over the internet.

One in every two medicines sold are fake.

An obligatory logo  will soon have to appear on

all sites approved by those EU states  that authorise this practice.

There will be a list of  reliable websites

which will be under review on  a permanent basis

in order to check if all the sites  which have the logo are still reliable.

From now on Member States  will have to apply dissuasive sanctions

This crime could even be equated to  drug trafficking in some countries.

Certain studies suggest that  trafficking fake medicine

is 25 times more lucrative than  drug trafficking.

If states approve these measures,  they could come into effect from 2013.