Falsified Medicines: Why are they suddenly hitting the news?

Because MHRA ain't looking out for them...

Recent news from ITV, and it’s shocking…

The recent ITV Report on Falsified Medicines: ITV News investigation finds fake pharmacies selling dangerous mislabelled drugs should not have come as a surprise to UKs Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

In 2019, Falsified Medicines and the supply chain was a subject covered by an MHRA Blog. There was no mention of the kind of issues identified in the ITV News article.

When did Falsified Medicines (aka fake medicines) first come to light?

There was a tragic event that happened in late 2007 that raised a red flag on the dangers of illicit behaviours in the pharmaceutical supply chain. A toxic material had be substituted for the real thing in the upstream supply chain for heparin, killing and maiming unsuspecting patients. This was the prompt for Governments to take action across the globe, resulting in the Falsified Medicines Directive being passed in the EU, still in effect in the UK, even though the UK has left the EU.

Read…