How can you recognize a counterfeit drug?
In this situation it is very difficult for patients to determine for themselves whether a drug is counterfeit or not. Because they trust the doctor, they trust the drug the doctor prescribed, and they go and buy it at the pharmacy. And sometimes the pharmacy itself says, “We don’t have this drug, but we can give you a substitute.”
Here, too, mistakes can happen. I tell my patients that they can get this drug’s effect only under this drug’s name, and then they will see the result. However, there are drugs — I can even name one — such as a drug called Vesicare.
I often prescribe this drug when the bladder is oversensitive. I tell these patients that if Vesicare causes a dry mouth, that is its side effect — an effect of the drug. In that case it means this is the original drug.
That is, it is working. If it has no effect, change it. There have been such cases — even in Moscow, patients went and bought Vesicare at one pharmacy, and it had no effect.
They were told to go and buy it at another pharmacy. They did, and it worked. Because, in the case of Vesicare, if that dry mouth doesn’t occur, it means the drug is not genuine.
That drug is a counterfeit. We have come across this, and we come across it often. In such cases patients themselves should know whether a drug might be counterfeit or not. From the shape of the box, from the text on the box, or by looking up the address of the company printed on the back of the box, they can check whether the drug is counterfeit or not.
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