Policymakers must address the growing counterfeit drug menace

Today, when we Americans swallow a pill from a bottle that was filled by our local pharmacy, we tend not to give it much thought. We trust that the pills are what the doctor ordered, will do what they’re intended, and will be safe. But it is not that way everywhere in the world, and there are no longer any guarantees even in the United States.

The idea of compromised prescription medicines is difficult for many Americans to grasp. Because our drug system is so tightly regulated, there is no place where medicines are safer and more reliable.  As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continually refines and improves the way it reviews and certifies the safety of medicines, the end result is that the U.S. supply chain is the gold standard of drug safety. People living in certain other parts of the world don’t have it so good.  While data remains scarce, the World Health Organization estimates that upwards of 30 percent of the drug supply in some developing nations is counterfeit.

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/199593-policymakers-must-address-the-growing-counterfeit-drug-menace#ixzz2v0cij7ek