Counterfeit medicines are a massive global problem that endangers lives. Unfortunately the counterfeiters have moved beyond peddling fake Viagra at grubby stalls in Bangkok to making use of technology for disseminating their wares. The Internet is a great way to safely and conveniently make purchases of all sorts of items; a few clicks of your mouse and the product can be with you sometimes within a matter of hours. Couldn’t be easier. The same method applies to prescription drugs, however does the convenience of buying your medication this way outweigh the risk of landing yourself with fake medicines or having your bank account details hijacked? Plus, medicines ordered online often do not come with the necessary drug information, instructions, advice or warnings, so you also run the risk of taking the dose incorrectly.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer started its counterfeit medicine awareness work a while back with the catchphrase Real Danger. Get Real. Get a Prescription and the company has just launched a new campaign highlighting the dangers of accessing prescription medicine online. The ‘Spam Donor Campaign’ has the backing of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, among others and having recently covered this campaign on our Current Spotlight page, we were keen to look further into the subject of online drug buying from the perspective of one of the campaign’s supporters. Neal Patel is Head of Corporate Communications at the RPS and represents the voice of the pharmacist. He was happy to spread the word and voice his concerns about drugs being sold illegally, without a prescription through these bogus internet chemists.

The issue of counterfeit drugs has become a major problem for drug companies, governments and patients the world over. As a professional body promoting and representing pharmacists and pharmacies, what role does the Royal Pharmaceutical Society have to play in the fight against counterfeit drugs?

As a professional body we are very concerned about the health risks that counterfeit drugs pose to people. Counterfeit medicines can be made up of ingredients that haven’t been tested and the side effects will be unknown. Many of these medicines are sold without any health advice or patient information. Not only is this illegal, but it means that the user has no medical information on the ingredients, dosage instructions or potential side effects. As the professional body for pharmacists we want to make Britain a safer place to take medicines and part of this is educating the public about the dangers of bypassing the healthcare system and purchasing prescription only medicines from unregulated websites. We are committed to work with partners and support initiatives that help raise awareness of the dangers of counterfeit medicine.

What is the general feeling from your members regarding fake medicines and the best way to tackle the counterfeiters?

Pharmacists will always advise patients to go and visit their local pharmacy to get medicines and advice. People may feel that shopping online avoids discussing embarrassing issues in public and many may not realise that now the vast majority of pharmacies have private consultation rooms. The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has a list of regulated pharmacies that are GPhC registered, so people can be sure they are purchasing safe and genuine medicines online. As a professional body we will continue to raise the issue of counterfeit medicine with Government and we will keep raising awareness of the dangers of counterfeit through the media and partnership campaigns.

The Spam Donor campaign is a very high profile one, with celebrity endorsement from Dr. Hilary Jones no less. How easy is it to get the UK media to latch on to this subject and help spread the word? Bearing in mind the importance of educating and informing the general public, is this subject matter taken seriously enough do you think?

The findings of the Spam Donor campaign looked at the impact on those people being targeted by medicine-related spam and their reaction to the results. Case studies like these where people share their stories and experiences and the experts interpret the potential harm to their health are powerful stories for the media. With wide spread use of social media means, spammers are now engaging in “next generation” ways to deceive the public, using popular social media channels like Twitter and Facebook.

Do you think the campaign will have any lasting effect with regards to both consumer vigilance and their online buying habits, as well as the tactics deployed by the criminals who are exploiting these innocent people?

I think the campaign and the continuing reinforcement of the message to the public to be vigilant and take care when ordering medicine online will have a big impact on people’s online consumer behaviour. We have to keep reminding people that medicine is not just another product they can buy online.

We do have to stay alert and collaborate with other healthcare organisations and regulators and be a step ahead of the tactics deployed by the counterfeit criminals.

The Previous Pfizer campaigns have been pretty hard-hitting and controversial; I’m thinking here of the notorious regurgitated rat TV campaign and the Cracking Counterfeits campaign that also came out with some pretty scary statistics about the risks men are taking by ordering drugs online. Do you think that the best way to deter people from risking their health by buying drugs online is to scare them?

I think the aim of the campaign and the advert was to get people’s attention rather than to scare them. The advert reflects the shocking truth about counterfeit medicine and what is often in them. I hope it made people think twice before they use the internet to source prescription medicines.

The criminals running these unscrupulous sites are clearly benefitting financially and meeting a demand. Do you feel that the Government should be more actively involved in supporting the pharmaceutical industry in fighting their activities, i.e. tackling the problem by increased vigilance and legislation. Or would it be better for the Government to be more proactive in educating and informing members of the public so that the websites ‘die a natural death’, through lack of use?

We strongly advocate tough penalties for medicine counterfeiters – this is serious crime that should be punished with a long prison sentence. However there will always be those who are determined to benefit financially through the counterfeit medicine trade. It is equally important to educate and inform the public and take more control of protecting ourselves against the new and innovative ways of counterfeiters.

Have you ever bought a counterfeit?

As a pharmacist myself I am more aware of the danger I may be putting myself in, so no, I haven’t. I also know that by informing the public about the dangers of buying counterfeit medicines is one of the ways we can make Great Britain a safer place to take medicines.

Neal Patel MRPharmS is Head of Corporate Communications at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society with responsibility for all aspects of external communications. Formerly Head of Communications at the National Pharmacy Association, Neal has also worked in a variety of management and professional roles for Boots, was a member of the Professional Executive Committee of Brighton and Hove Primary Care Trust and chaired the Brighton Pharmacy Forum.

Click here to watch Neal Patel talking about the dangers of buying prescription only medicine online. The BBC's One Show conducted an investigation of a bogus internet pharmacy advertising medicine on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Find out what the investigation revealed. Neal was also interviewed together with Dr Hilary Jones, discussing the real danger of counterfeit medicine. Click here find out what they had to say on this subject and the Pfizer Spam Donor campaign.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is the dedicated professional body for pharmacists in England, Scotland and Wales. The mission of the RPS is to promote and represent the professional interests of its members and also to lead and promote the advancement of science, practice and education in pharmacy in order to shape and influence the future delivery of pharmacy driven services.

Pfizer Inc, the world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, manufactures and markets prescription medicines in 11 therapeutic areas including oncology, cardiovascular, pain, neuroscience and infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Pfizer is also the world’s largest animal health company.

Read our Current Spotlight feature on the various Pfizer anti-counterfeiting campaigns.