Presidential Proclamation No. 2082 dated 15 June 2010, declares every third week of November of every year as the National Consciousness Week Against Counterfeit Medicine.
What are counterfeit medicines?
Republic Act No. 82036 refers to counterfeit drug/medicine as “…medicinal products with correct ingredients but not in the amounts as provided there under, wrong ingredients, without active ingredients, with insufficient quantity of active ingredients, which results in the reduction of the drug’s safety, efficacy, quality, strength or purity. It is а drug which is deliberately and fraudulently mislabeled with respect to identity and/or source or with fake packaging, and can apply to both branded and generic products.”
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FDA-DOH Anti-Counterfeit Drug Advocacy
According to this promotional advocacy, we need to check the following in order to ensure that the medicines we will take is not a counterfeit or fake.
1. Clear Generic and Brand Name
2. Lot Number and Expiration Date
3. Does Not Crumble Easily
4. Sold in FDA Licensed Drug Stores
How to tell if a drug is fake? | Via Unilab
Authentic: Color and engraving should be how it is advertised on TV; Visible and readable batch number; No sign of tampering; and With diamond patter.
Fake: Appears brighter or paler than usual; Hard to read batch number; Packaging chips easily; and With dotted pattern
Consumers are enjoined to report suspected counterfeit medicines to the Food and Drug Administration Philippines or fill-up the Bantay Gamot Forms which are available in all FDA licensed drugstores nationwide.
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