Are My Meds Real? Counterfeit Production on the Rise

Anesthesiology News Presents

As many popular medications in the United States have continued to increase in price, there has been a related rise in the number of counterfeit medications being produced and sold, specifically online.

Reports of fraudulent medications include opioids, cancer drugs, erectile dysfunction medications and weight-loss medications. As such, both the FDA and the FBI have posted warnings of counterfeit medications, such as Ozempic (semaglutide, Novo Nordisk).

"I unfortunately got to meet a patient taking a counterfeit for Ozempic. And in researching this patient I discovered that this is not only a problem here in the United States, but it's a problem worldwide," said Peter J. Papadakos, MD, a professor of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine, and the director of critical care medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, in New York. "You name a class of drug, and if it's expensive, it's being counterfeit and sold on the internet."

According to the agencies, many of these illegally manufactured “medications” contain no active pharmaceutical ingredients (or correct ingredients in the incorrect quantity), whereas some contain illicit ingredients, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, which can result in overdose and death.