EU Concerned About Counterfeit Drugs

The E.U. Commission is getting increasingly worried about the amount of counterfeit medicines that are sold on the Internet. The most common ones are fake Viagra, fake Cialis and fake Levitra which are all erectile dysfunction drugs. Some people feel safer buying erectile dysfunction drugs over the internet so that they don't have the humiliation of visiting a doctor and picking up a prescription from a pharmacist. However the lack of regulation and control over internet operators means that there is a lot of fraud around and buyers must be very careful.

Counterfeit medicine sellers often don't bother with the relevant laws and regulations of licensing by E.U. A survey done recently by some E.U. Member States found that over one hundred and seventy medical drugs were shown to be fake during the last five years. The internet provides a perfect medium to offload these fake drugs as tracing the sellers becomes difficult.

Some of the pills sold are found to be made of compounds as diverse as cement or sugar and other reports show many don't people actually receive the wrong medicine in the post. As well as the erectile dysfunction drugs other "lifestyle"  drugs such as hormones for bodybuilders, fake hair loss drugs, and even drugs like Accomplia a weight loss drug that has yet to be approved by the E.U. or the F.D.A in the U.S. are being sold. Recently various websites have been offering generic Tamiflu for sale and as Tamiflu is only made by Roche, generic versions can't exist.

Manufacturers of the legal drugs are now having to spend time and money to track the origin of the fake drugs and they say that the selling of fake versions can give the original a bad name. Selling fake drugs is considered to be a very serious crime in both the European Union and in the United States.

The E.U. Commission Vice President Mr Verheugen was quoted recently expressing his concern at how the fake drugs industry has boomed and seems to keep growing. Mr Verheugen said that the relevant authorities need to work with the manufacturers to bring the criminals to justice and to safeguard E.U. citizens from the dangers of fake drugs.

The E.U. has very strict rules for the sale of medicines and drugs. All drugs such as the erectile dyfunction drugs Viagra Cialis and Levitra have been put through extensive tests and must show that they are completely safe and have no serious side effects. The E.U. has its own legally enforceable structures just like the F.D.A in the US for the testing, marketing and sale of all drugs, prescription and otherwise. Only licensed chemists are allowed to sell prescription erectile dyfunction drugs.