Protecting Yourself from Counterfeit Medicines
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. To combat counterfeit medicines, FDA partners with various U.S. government agencies, as well as pharmaceutical manufacturers, wholesale distributors, retailers, and other dispensers, to identify counterfeit drugs and prevent them from reaching domestic consumers. Internationally, FDA also works with individual countries and regions, and is very active in WHO’s International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force (IMPACT), a public/private effort to develop regulatory, legislative, enforcement, communication, and technological tools to combat counterfeit drugs around the world.