Consumer Education: Counterfeit Medicine

Counterfeit medicine is fake medicine. It may be contaminated or contain the wrong or no active ingredient. Educating consumers about the risks of counterfeit medicine is an important part in the effort to stop counterfeits from entering the United States' drug supply.

The following materials will help you be more aware of ways to identify the risk of counterfeit medicine and to minimize the chance of receiving fake products.

To obtain printed copies of any of these materials, please email your request by title to: dpapubs@cder.fda.gov. You can also call 301-827-1243 or 1-888-INFO-FDA.

• “Counterfeit Medicines - Filled With Empty Promises; You can avoid counterfeit medicine by purchasing only from U.S. state-licensed pharmacies.” This short article explains what counterfeit medicines are, and give tips on how to avoid the risks.
   
• “Protecting consumers from counterfeit drugs.” This FDA Consumer article from May/June 2004, discusses the February 2004 FDA Counterfeit Drug Task Force’s recommendations to address weaknesses in the drug distribution system.

For more information about counterfeit medicines, please visit the FDA page, “Combating Counterfeit Drugs” at: www.fda.gov/counterfeit.

For related topics, see the FDA Web sites:
"Importing Prescription  Drugs" at: www.fda.gov/importeddrugs

"Buying Medicines and Medical Products Online" at http://www.fda.gov/oc/buyonline/default.htm.

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Date created: September 10, 2004

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