Counterfeit drug sales could increase by 92% by 2010

A report from a US think tank suggests that counterfeit drug sales will reach $75 billion by 2010. The Center for Medicines in the Public Interest believes that illegal drug sales will grow 13% a year through to 2010 - a 92% increase from 2005. Many of the products sold via drug traffickers contain ingredients that could be harmful or many times lethal: they also help fund the world of crime and terror. Many counterfeit drugs are coming from illegal operations with very poor controls with some using phony websites. Recently, there have been major arrests for drug counterfeiting in China, Canada and the US. Security controls must be strengthened now to preserve future health care systems. It has been suggested that companies should make use of track-and-trace technologies such as bar coding and RFID tagging to deter fake drugs entering legitimate distribution channels.

The report's finding will probably be used by the US pharmaceutical industry to negotiate a block on cross-border trade. The ordering of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and other foreign countries by US consumers is particularly frowned upon by the industry, which, it claims provides a point of entry for counterfeit drugs.