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Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Drug Counterfeiting: Key Factors Affecting Vulnerable People in the World

Shambhu Sarkar

Journal of Advances in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences · pp. 27–34 · Published 19 Aug 2023

10.9734/jamps/2023/v25i7628

Abstract

Drug counterfeiting has been a major problem for the government and regulatory agencies since the beginning of the 20th century. Most of the drug counterfeiting reported is in countries where a high demand for drugs combines with poor surveillance, quality control, regulation, and education to make it easy for criminals and cartels to supply it to the market through illegal sources. These fake medications are frequently produced in hazardous conditions, with insufficient, excess, or no active ingredients, and/or by using potentially harmful and even fatal chemicals. Counterfeit drugs mostly affect vulnerable sections of society due to their social and economic conditions. Some critical factors, such as insufficient or no health insurance coverage, disparities with racial and ethnic minorities, government policies, low income, lack of education, and uncontrolled online pharmacies, tend to attract them towards counterfeit drugs. This article explains the key risk factors of counterfeit drugs operating in legal environments and reviews recent adverse cases in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

Drug traceability drug counterfeit pharmaceutical serialization vulnerable popultion supply chain blockchain track and trace system

References (7)

  1. 1 Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Related to COVID-19 [DOI]
  2. 2 Vulnerable Populations in the United States
  3. 3 The Health and Economic Effects of Counterfeit Drugs
  4. 4 Global health disparities in vulnerable populations of psychiatric patients during the COVID-19 pandemic [DOI]
  5. 5 THE IMPACTS OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT: HOW REASONABLE ARE THE PROJECTIONS? [DOI]
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