A review of the trade in counterfeit medicines, and some
associated Intellectual Property enforcement issues.
'A counterfeit medicine is one which is deliberately and
fraudulently mislabeled with respect to identity and/or source.
Counterfeiting can apply to both branded and generic products
and counterfeit products may include products with the correct
ingredients or with the wrong ingredients, without active
ingredients, with insufficient active ingredients or with fake
packaging.'
World Health Organisation definition.
Scale of the Problem
Counterfeit medicines are big business, both within the UK
and on a worldwide basis. As with any black market activity, it
is impossible to produce an accurate picture of the problem,
but the numbers that are being suggested are terrifying. A
recent estimate by the US Centre for Medicines in the Public
Interest calculated that the value of
