If it’s Counterfeit, II’s Not Medicine

A campaign to get the population to avoid the use of counterfeit drugs whose ingredients are incorrect or insufficient constitutes a serious risk to health carries the slogan: “If it is Counterfeit, it is not medicine”

Panama’s Director of Pharmacy and Drugs, Elvia Lau stressed that the objective of the campaign is to establish September as the month to reinforce and disseminate everything related to the fight against allegedly counterfeit, illicit or substandard products so that the population knows the risks when consuming these products.

She warned that counterfeit medicines can contain harmful degradation, impurities or contaminants that cause irreversible damage to human health.

To determine the veracity of a medical product, the name of the laboratory, batch number, expiration date, Panama sanitary registration number, sealed medicine packaging, its own security elements (holograms and bar codes) are verified.

Lau warned about the care that citizens must with the acquisition of these products, in places where it is unknown who promotes their sale, recommended to attend recognized establishments that at first glance show the documentation of the establishment is in order.

An inter-institutional committee for pharmaceutical products is made up of the National Directorate of Pharmacy and Drugs, The Public Ministry, TheNational Customs Authority, National Police, National Border Service, National Aeronaval Service and the Specialized Institute of Analysis of the University of Panama.