Recently the Pharmaceutical Security Institute announced that global counterfeiting has gone up by 9.2% over the past year. From the SafeMeds newsletter:
According to data by the Pharmaceutical Security Institute (PSI), drug counterfeiting has increased by 9.2 percent worldwide over the past year. Other key survey findings include:
- Variety of Pharmaceutical Products Increasing: There were 808 types of counterfeit pharmaceutical products identified in 2009, up more than 36 percent from 2008.
- Geographical Locations More Diverse: Counterfeits were detected in 118 countries in 2008.
- Counterfeit Drugs Going Wholesale: In 531 incidents, counterfeit products reached licensed wholesale distributors and/or pharmacies in 48 different countries. 472 of the 978 counterfeit medicine seizures made by law enforcement were of “commercial” size.
