Danes importing fewer illegal medicines

Phil Taylor

10-Apr-2010

EFPIA counterfeit graphic The Danish Medicines Agency believes the practice of purchasing medicines illegally over the Internet is declining, in part because of a wide-ranging educational campaign in Denmark about the high risk of being exposed to counterfeit drugs online.

2009 saw a 14 per cent decline in the number of parcels stopped by customs and inspected by the agency, from 5,536 parcels in 2008 to 4,766 last year. In January 2010 another decline was seen, with just 350 seizures.

"We expect part of the drop in numbers is because we are now better at sorting the parcels so we can concentrate on those that actually contain illegal products," said Kim Helleberg Madsen, head of the department at the Danish Medicines Agency responsible for these inspections, in an article published in the agency's Indication newsletter.

"But overall, illegal medicine imports appear to be levelling off or dropping slightly," he added, "and recent years’ campaigns against these illegal and dangerous medicines actually appear to have helped."

Denmark ranks in the middle of the league table of Europeans buying illegal medicines online, according to the recent Pfizer-sponsored Cracking Counterfeit Europe survey, which found that 16 per cent of Danes had bought a pharmaceutical product online without a prescription.

Germany and Italy topped the survey with respective rates of 38 and 37 per cent, with the UK and the Netherlands at the other end of the scale with rates of 12 and 10 per cent. Overall, the survey estimated the total market for medicines bought via illegal sources at €10.5bn.

Madsen is encouraged by the trend shown in Denmark but still has concerns about a die-hard core of importers who are repeat offenders. 234 people were caught a second time importing illegal medicines last year, despite the risks of fines that double for each subsequent offence.

"I'm not sure these people can be deterred by fines and by being told that they're breaking the law," he said.

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EU illicit trade in medicines could top €10.5bn, says survey

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