The pharmaceutical market is growing rapidly, there are a large number of new drugs that do not always correspond to the claimed composition, may be poor or completely fake. Therefore, it will be useful to know how to verify the authenticity of the medicine so as not to pay money for simple chalk or glucose.
Signs of a fake drug
The counterfeit will always have differences from the original, so it can be recognized by the following indicators:
- the cost of the drug differs sharply from the average price in the city, is too low;
- the packaging is made of thin cardboard, the colors and inscriptions are pale, fuzzy, possibly blurred;
- barcode, series and number are poorly read, blurry in several places;
- the instruction is more like a photocopy than a sheet printed in a printing house;
- it is worth paying attention not only to the print quality of the recommendation, but also to how it is folded: in a fake, the instruction can be separate from the drug, in a genuine tool, a bottle or plate with tablets divide it clearly in half;
- the series, release date, shelf life on the packaging and the drug do not completely match or differ in one digit.
Methods for authenticating a drug
If the purchased drug is in doubt, has at least one of the listed symptoms, then you should know how to verify the authenticity of the medicine, what methods exist for this. The real tool or not, can be determined by the following methods:
- Ask the pharmacist for the appropriate product quality certificates , invoice and declaration for it. Using these documents, you can check on the Roszdravnadzor website whether this drug is registered in the system.
- According to the barcode - one of the most effective ways to determine the counterfeit is made by arithmetic addition of all numbers, the sum of which should coincide with the control number.
- By series, number and name of the drug through the portal "quality.rf" or the website of Roszdravnadzor.
How to verify drug authenticity by barcode
Any registered and legally produced product has a special bar code, which consists of a set of numbers. This product labeling allows you to find out the authenticity of the drug. In each figure, data about the country of manufacture, the enterprise, the product, its properties, color, size is encrypted, the last number is a control, it allows you to check the originality of the medicine.
To calculate the check digit, the following arithmetic calculations must be performed:
- first add up all the numbers that are in even positions, i.e., 2, 4, and so on;
- the amount received from the first paragraph must be multiplied by 3;
- then add the numbers in odd places: 1, 3, 5, etc., except for the control number;
- Now it is necessary to summarize the data obtained in paragraphs 2 and 3 and discard dozens from this amount;
- from 10 subtract the figure that was obtained in paragraph 5, the final result should coincide with the control number.
For a better understanding of how to verify the authenticity of the drug using a bar code, you can give the following example calculations with the code 4606782066911:
- 6 + 6 + 8 + 0 + 6 + 1 = 27;
- 27 x 3 = 81;
- 4 + 0 + 7 + 2 + 6 + 9 = 28;
- 81 + 28 = 109;
- 10 - 9 = 1.
Based on these calculations, the control and final figures coincide and equal to 1, therefore, the goods are genuine.
The discrepancy in the data obtained indicates that the product was produced illegally, this is a fake.
How to verify the authenticity of a medicine by series and number
Another way to check the drug is to verify its basic data: name, series and number. Roszdravnadzor provides the population with the opportunity to control the authenticity of drugs through their website, which publishes information on tests performed on preclinical and clinical trials of drugs, as well as information on the results of this activity.
In addition, you can check the medicine through the portal "quality.rf", where there is all the necessary information related to the drugs: about manufacturers, important news about government offers and solutions in the field of medicine, about the quality of the drugs on the Russian pharmaceutical market.
On the portal "quality.rf" there is a section that helps answer the question of how to verify the authenticity of the medicine on the online series. To do this, go to the "Quality Control" catalog and enter the necessary data, after which a sign appears with a decision on whether or not to release the drug.
How not to buy a fake?
In order not to purchase a fake, the following recommendations should be considered:
- buy drugs only in the pharmacy network, do not take drugs from hands, from distributors, in small kiosks or stalls, on the Internet;
- You should not purchase funds without a doctor’s prescription, on the advice of a pharmacist;
- It is recommended to ask the pharmacist for a quality certificate, compare the information indicated in it with that contained on the package of the drug;
- it is better to refrain from buying an advertised product, since there is a high probability of falling for a fake.
Where to go when a fake is detected?
Considering the question of how to verify the authenticity of the drug, it is necessary to tell where to go if the purchased drug is in doubt, it has several pronounced signs of fake, the tool did not go through any of the ways to identify the original. In this case, the medicine should be subjected to laboratory tests, which can confirm or refute the falsification.
There are research centers in almost all regions of Russia, the location of which can be found on the website of Roszdravnadzor. To do this, go to the "Medicines" catalog, select the "Quality Control of Medicines" section, where all the accredited laboratories operating in the Russian Federation are listed in the "Information" section.
To clarify the conditions for the examination, it is recommended to contact the necessary laboratory. In addition, it is necessary to bring information about the fake drug to the attention of the territorial authority of Roszdravnadzor.
Thus, when detecting any signs of counterfeiting, it is important to know how to verify the authenticity of the medicine by series, number, barcode, and also where to go if the product has not passed the originality check.