Counterfeit Medicines Now available as an eBook

The threat from counterfeit pharmaceutical products is not a new one; many national authorities have long waged their own struggle against counterfeit medicine and the World Health Organisation (WHO) is working with Interpol to intercept the criminal networks raking in billions of pounds from this sardonic trade. After all the market of counterfeit medicine is less risky and more profitable to criminal organisations than the market of illicit drugs and thus is very appealing.

There is a flow of products coming from everywhere and going to everywhere and the range of counterfeit products reaching markets has also broadened. The increased commercial use of the Internet has assisted in providing a vast array of both branded and generic drugs, counterfeit versions of prescription medicines for cancer and serious cardiovascular diseases - even lifesaving drugs are not exempt from the bogus online selling trade.

Developing countries are an obvious target for counterfeiters, because the cost of legitimate drugs may be beyond the reach of much of the population and legal controls are often weak, analysts say. Even in hospitals there have been reported cases of counterfeit medicines being added to genuine batches of medicines during deliveries.

Health experts believe previous operations have only scratched the surface of a thriving industry in counterfeit medicines that poses a growing threat to worldwide public health. As a result the battle to reduce the public threat of counterfeit medicines requires no one simple action but rather a collaboration closely on international criminal investigations, assisting countries in strengthening their own detection and enforcement systems, and working with industry to develop such measures as secure, high-tech pharmaceuticals packaging.

This volume complements Counterfeit Medicines Volume I: Policy, Economics and Countermeasures as a practical application of science, by dealing with the technical approaches to stop the scourge of counterfeit and substandard pharmaceuticals. This book examines the problems that counterfeit drugs cause, their effects worldwide, considers the likely directions the problem will take and proposes options for controlling the problem as a whole.

Chapters discuss possible screening, identification and quantification methods using cutting-edge technology including thermal analysis, near-infrared spectroscopy, Ramen spectroscopy, high performance liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance and many more advanced technologies to combat the threat of counterfeit medicines.