Real medicines vs fakes: how not to make a mistake. How to distinguish counterfeit medicines How to recognize non-counterfeit Detralex tablets

The quality of treatment is a very important condition for recovery. If only our bodies could cope with illnesses without outside help! But, alas, various types of illnesses are still stronger and can only be dealt with with the help of medications. And to be honest, I can’t imagine how the earth bears creatures, people I can’t even call them people, who counterfeit vital drugs. The topic of this material is counterfeit medicines. Let's try to figure out how to recognize them.

Where do they sell fakes?

By default, medications must be sold in pharmacies. But in search of some rare and vital drugs, you can find suppliers via the Internet or friends of your friends. Be careful, because this is how counterfeits spread. Have you ever met traveling salesmen who offered you luxury perfume at a bargain price, supposedly from a warehouse? Well, if you haven’t fallen for such a bait, then believe an experienced person - this is 100 percent fake, and such a perfume was not even close to the original. And the same with medications. Craftsmen stamp the same boxes and the same blisters, but fill them, at best, with chalk tablets.

Do you think that you can’t buy counterfeit goods at a pharmacy? Alas, this is not true. The goods arrive at the pharmacy from the warehouse, and people also work in the warehouse, sometimes not the most honest ones. The author of the counterfeit will offer them a share in the profit - and now the “left” product is on the counter. Law enforcement agencies regularly detain swindlers and uncover clandestine workshops producing counterfeit medicines, but unfortunately, some scammers are being replaced by others. Our task is to be vigilant.

Counterfeit medicines: characteristic signs

So, you are holding the desired product in your hands. How can you tell that it is not real? There are several signs that will help you with this:

on the box and on the bottle or blister there are different information about the series and date of manufacture of the medicine;
the cardboard on the packaging is loose, the paint is not printed clearly and is smeared, the text is blurry;
the instructions for the drug are missing or are not printed in a typographical way, but are made using a photocopy;
The tablets or capsules do not look as they should. You will understand this if you have previously purchased such a drug

The saddest sign is if the drug did not work as it should. Unfortunately, during the time spent on counterfeiting, the disease can progress and the consequences can become catastrophic.

Options for counterfeit or what could be inside the counterfeit?

At best, there will be chalk, flour or starch inside. You may not even immediately understand that it is a fake, because the so-called placebo effect will be observed.

Another option for the composition of a counterfeit medicine is less effective analogues of the medicine or a significant reduction in the dosage of the medicine. The effect of such a drug will be, but very weak.

And the worst option is when one medicine is replaced by another. For example, you bought a remedy for stomach cramps, but received a laxative.

Where to find information about counterfeiters

There is criminal liability for counterfeiting medicines. All identified drugs must be destroyed. But while the relevant services find all the batches of goods, some of them may linger on the counter of your pharmacy. Take a look at the Rospotrebnadzor website - they promptly publish lists of manufacturers who have committed defects and other violations.

What to do if you realize that the medicine is fake

If you suspect that the purchased medications are counterfeit, feel free to go to the pharmacy and request a certificate of conformity or a declaration for this medication. Check the document through the Rospotrebnadzor website. If it is not registered, contact Roszdravnadzor and the prosecutor’s office.

5 tips that can save your health from counterfeit medicine

Buy medications only at the pharmacy.
Do not buy a medicine if it is much cheaper at this pharmacy than at all others.
Be especially vigilant when purchasing products from the mid-price range. They are most often counterfeited.
Don't be fooled by annoying advertisements and colorful flyers in your mailbox.
Never purchase medications without consulting your doctor. A miracle drug that your neighbor's friend sells can cause you irreparable harm.

Take care of yourself and your loved ones, be careful about your medications, check them for compliance and strictly follow the dosage!

Instructions

Buy medications only from trusted pharmacies that have worked well for you and your friends. Under no circumstances take medications from your hands or from the market. Nowadays it has become popular to buy medicines -. On the one hand, it’s very convenient when you don’t have to rush around the city looking for the right product, but on the other hand, the risk of running into a fake is very high. Therefore, you should use such services very carefully.

When purchasing a medicine, carefully consider and study its packaging. It must be intact, undamaged, and made of high-quality material. All inscriptions and colors on it must be clear, crisp and bright. The name of the medicine and the active substance must exactly match what the doctor prescribed to you. If it is in at least one letter, then refuse to purchase this drug.

Look at the leaflet for the medicine. It should be printed, not photocopied. The text must be clear and easily readable. Again, the drug and active ingredient must match what the doctor prescribed. In modern medicines, it is folded in such a way that the blister or bottle is divided in half. In counterfeit drugs, both the annotation and the medicine itself are kept separately.

Check the batch, production date and expiration date indicated on the box and on the blister (or bottle). If the data does not match, then this is a fake.

Ask the seller for a certificate of conformity if you doubt the authenticity of the medicine. It must indicate the trade and international name of the product, the company and country where the medicine was produced, information that this batch has passed quality control and has a quality control certificate and a manufacturer’s quality certificate.

Ask your doctor who prescribed the drug to show you what it should look like. Manufacturers usually put various distinctive features on the packaging of their medicine in the form of a hologram, inscriptions on tablets, etc.

If the medicine is unknown to you, then study the information about it in the reference book of medicines (RLS). This directory has a section “Medicine Identifier”, where there is not only information about all drugs, but also photographs of all dosage forms and packaging of those drugs that are most often at risk of counterfeiting.

Anyone can encounter a counterfeit medicine, and this happens because in Russia, unfortunately, as in all countries of the world, on the pharmaceutical market you can buy falsified, that is, counterfeit medicines instead of real medicines, states pharmcontrol.ru.

A person, unfortunately, often gets sick, so he is forced to take medicine. However, it happens that the medicine does not help, although earlier, when taking the same medicine, the treatment effect occurred. Or, having bought a medicine, we notice that the color of the tablets is some kind of dirty gray, there is not that whiteness and gloss that the tablets of the same medicine you bought and took before had. Or, having freed the tablet from the packaging, we see that it has lost its shape: it has cracked or crumbled. All these changes with the medicine are not a hallucination, but a reality.

Counterfeits are not equal in quality and effectiveness to original drugs, since under the guise of one drug there may be another, or they contain no pharmacologically active active ingredients at all, or there are not enough of them, or this medicine has expired, but is repackaged in a new package on which a different, longer shelf life is indicated. Medicines are also recognized as counterfeit because they are produced illegally, without the knowledge and permission of the copyright holder, and do not undergo the control provided for legal products.

An analysis of the activities of practicing doctors shows that in a number of cases, doctors are little informed about the problem of counterfeit drugs, therefore, episodes of insufficient therapeutic effect when using known drugs, manifestations of atypical side effects, an increase in the frequency of allergic reactions, they are usually associated with incorrect selection of the drug or dosage, predisposition patient for allergies, etc. At the same time, the vast majority of doctors and patients do not even assume that counterfeit medicine may be to blame for all this.

In the Russian consumer market, the number of counterfeit goods, including medicines, is growing every year. The share of counterfeits in the total volume of sales of consumer goods in 2007 reached 35% (in developed countries - only 5%), and for some groups of goods even higher figures.

According to experts, the volume of counterfeits of some product groups in 2007 was:

medicines - 10-12%,
food products - 25%,
alcoholic products - 30%,
shoes and clothes - 40%,
cosmetic and synthetic detergents - 55%.

Counterfeit medicines, unlike counterfeits of other product groups, pose the greatest threat to the health and life of not only an individual consumer or group of consumers, but also the health of the nation as a whole, and therefore are one of the most serious problems not only in Russia, but in almost all countries of the world.

Experts from the World Health Organization suggest that every twentieth drug on the world market is counterfeit, and in developing countries - every third. The volume of trade in counterfeit medicines in 2005 amounted to more than 11%, and by 2010, according to experts, it will reach 16% of all medicines sold on the world market. The losses of the world's pharmaceutical companies from the actions of offenders in 2005 amounted to $39 billion, and according to expert forecasts, by 2010 they will reach $75 billion.

In 2005, 64 names of drugs containing 226 falsified batches were identified on the Russian pharmaceutical market, which is less than 1% of all drugs sold. Is it a lot or a little? This can be understood by performing simple arithmetic operations. It is known that each series of a drug produced in the form of tablets is officially produced in quantities of at least 500 thousand packages. It can be assumed that counterfeiters produce no less number of counterfeit packages of each series. Knowing the number of falsified batches and the number of packages in one batch, we multiply the first by the second and get 113 million counterfeit packages. If every citizen bought one package of such a medicine, then it can be assumed that 113 million people would endanger their health as a result of taking it. And if a person has a serious chronic disease, such as heart disease, and during an attack he takes a low-quality medicine, then such “treatment” can result in death.

When counterfeiting medicines, like any other product (food, shoes, clothing, cigarettes, audio-video products, etc.), offenders, first of all, strive to give them and their packaging the appearance of the original product, without focusing attention on their quality and composition. For example, when producing counterfeit medicine in tablet form, counterfeiters strive to accurately reproduce the shape, color and weight of the original tablet.

As a rule, the primary and secondary packaging of a counterfeit medicine, as well as the medicine itself, is made in the form of an exact copy of the original one, however, counterfeiters are not always able to select identical material: cardboard, foil, paint and other materials for the manufacture of packaging, which distinguishes it from the original . Thanks to this, a counterfeit can be visually distinguished from the original drug by appearance. For example, counterfeits of the drug “Suprastin”, produced in the form of tablets, differ from the original in the following ways:

the engraving “Suprastin” on the counterfeit tablet, unlike the original one, is clearer and deeper, the letters are angular, not round;
the height of the tablets is 3.18 mm, not 2.82 mm;
on the blister (primary packaging) the dosage indication “mg” is printed in bold font, on the original - in regular font;
the name of the manufacturing plant "EGIS", indicated on the front side of the blister (primary packaging), was printed on the back side in the form of an imprint, there is no imprint on the original;
on cardboard (recycled) packaging, the batch number, expiration date, and production date are not embossed deeply, are difficult to distinguish, and are difficult to read;
The color of the cardboard (recycled) packaging is cream instead of white, with a grayish tint.

(More information about the signs of falsified and rejected drugs can be found in the letters of Roszdravnadzor, which are posted on the Internet at regmed.ru .).

It should be noted that counterfeits of this medicine were detected 22 times. Moreover, the medicine and packaging of each counterfeit series, and 27 of them were identified, contained from 3 to 4 distinctive features, and not all of the above. This may indicate that these counterfeits were produced by different counterfeiters. Some series were not produced by the copyright holder at all, and therefore counterfeits of these series were completely withdrawn from circulation, without taking into account whether they contained distinctive features or not.

In recent years, several counterfeits have been identified due to spelling errors contained in words in the text of the instructions (for example, in the word medical, instead of “e” the letter “i” was written).

An analysis of the practice of combating counterfeit and counterfeit goods in Russia showed that, in comparison with other groups of goods that are subject to counterfeiting and falsification, the identification and recording of counterfeit medicines is the most organized, this process is centralized and streamlined. One of the elements of this process is the maintenance, since 1999, of a constantly updated register (list) of falsified and rejected medicines and their series, indicating the characteristics that distinguish them from quality medicines.

At numerous forums held in Russia dedicated to the safety and quality of medicines, it was noted that the measures taken by the state to combat the counterfeit of medicines are insufficient. In this regard, citizens themselves need to take all possible measures to protect themselves from counterfeit medicines.

When purchasing medicines, as well as when purchasing other goods and food products, it is necessary to inspect the packaging and medicine so as not to buy, and most importantly, not to accept a counterfeit instead of a real medicine.

This way you will not only help yourself, but also save many of your compatriots from low-quality medicine. It was on the initiative of consumers, based on their complaints, that more than 20% of low-quality and about 10% of counterfeit medicines were identified and withdrawn from circulation. For example, one of the counterfeit medications was identified thanks to the attentiveness of a pensioner who has been taking the same medicine for several years. She noticed that the expiration date on the packaging of the medicine she received was different than on the packaging of the same medicine received earlier, while the batch number was the same on both packages. This difference caused the woman to have a reasonable suspicion about the authenticity of the medicine. Further inspection confirmed the woman’s suspicions - the medicine turned out to be counterfeit and there was no certification.

Some tips when purchasing medicines in pharmacies.

1. It is advisable to purchase medications from pharmacies and only from those that have Roszdravnadzor information about rejected and falsified medications ( Otherwise, how can you sell medicine without such information!). The greatest chance of buying a counterfeit or rejected medicine is in small pharmacies, such as pharmacy kiosks, pharmacy stores and pharmacies on wheels. Such pharmacies are only allowed to sell drugs that are sold without a prescription.

Fake: how to recognize?

Each product that is produced legally and registered is assigned a unique barcode in the form of a set of numbers. Each digit of such a code has its own meaning: country of origin, size, color, size and other parameters of the product.

girls! How to check the authenticity of purchased medicines?

The last number is a control number - it is what determines the authenticity of the product.

6 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 0 + 9 = 25;
25 x 3 = 75;
7 + 1 + 0 + 3 + 9 + 4 = 24;
75 + 24 = 99;
10 – 9 = 1.

More and more different drugs appear on the modern pharmaceutical market every day. Unfortunately, not all of them fully correspond to the declared quality or may even be counterfeit. So how can you find a worthwhile product among the fake ones, so as not to waste money and time?

Fake: how to recognize?

It is ideally impossible to counterfeit a medicine, so a counterfeit will always have a number of qualities by which it can be recognized:

the price of such a drug, as a rule, is significantly lower than the statistical average, which makes it more attractive to buyers;
packaging of poor quality: inconspicuous inscriptions, thin, loose cardboard, faded and pale colors;
a smeared barcode that is difficult to read;
instructions that look like a hastily made photocopy;
It is also important how the instructions are folded in the packaging: in cases with high-quality medicines, a bottle or plate divides the instructions exactly in half, but in packages with a counterfeit, the recommendation often lies on the side, separate from the drug;
It is worth paying special attention to possible minor inaccuracies, for example, the release date or expiration date on the packaging and on the product itself may not match, even if it is just one number.

Checking the authenticity of the medicine

If you nevertheless bought the necessary drug, but noticed some of the above signs in it, then it is best to check its authenticity. There are several methods for this:

In any pharmacy, the pharmacist must have quality certificates, invoices and declarations corresponding to each product, and you can always ask to see them.
Russians will be able to recognize counterfeit medicine in 2 minutes

Using these documents, it is easy to check the presence of the drug in the system, and this can be done on the official website of Roszdravnadzor.
Another way is to check using a barcode, in which case some arithmetic calculations are required, as a result of which the sum of all digits must be identical to the check number.
Also, the series and number of the product, which are also registered on the Roszdravnadzor website, can “tell” about the authenticity.

Barcode authentication

You can calculate the check number using the following calculations:

first, those numbers are added that occupy even positions, that is, 2, 4, 6, 8 and so on;
the amount received as a result is tripled;
after this, the numbers in odd positions are added, that is, 1, 3, 5, 7 and so on, but with the exception of the control number, the thirteenth;
the data calculated from points 2 and 3 are summed up, after which the tens must be discarded from the resulting sum;
and finally, the figure that was calculated in the previous paragraph is subtracted from 10; the final result must coincide with the control number.

To better understand how this works in practice, let’s carry out the necessary calculations using the example of barcode 7613033490491:

6 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 0 + 9 = 25;
25 x 3 = 75;
7 + 1 + 0 + 3 + 9 + 4 = 24;
75 + 24 = 99;
10 – 9 = 1.

The calculations clearly show that the resulting figure is equal to 1 and coincides with the final number, which means that the product is genuine and you can safely buy it.
The discrepancy between the numbers, in turn, is evidence of a fake produced illegally.

Authentication by series and number

A barcode is not the only way to recognize a substandard product. Another solution is to verify the name, series, and number of the drug, that is, its basic data. You can check the authenticity on the Roszdravnadzor website.

It is there, in the public domain, that the most current information about all medicines, for example, the results of preclinical and clinical studies, is published.

The portal “kachestvo.rf” also provides the ability to quickly check authenticity. It provides all the necessary information: information about the manufacturer, the latest achievements in the medical field, the quality of all products offered by the domestic pharmaceutical market.

The same portal has a catalog called “Quality Control”, which helps you find out about the quality and authenticity of the product without leaving your home, online. To do this, you need to enter the drug data into the catalog, and a decision on a ban or permission to produce will appear on the screen.

Buying counterfeit goods: how to avoid?

avoid purchasing medications on the Internet, roadside kiosks, or stalls, trusting only certified pharmacy chains;
buy drugs only with a prescription issued by a doctor, and not rely only on the advice of pharmacists;
always ask for a quality certificate and compare the information in it with that indicated on the packaging;
You should not unconditionally trust advertising, because there is a high probability that the most advertised medicines will turn out to be counterfeit.

Where to go if a fake is discovered?

When telling how to detect a counterfeit, it is impossible not to mention where to turn if a counterfeit is nevertheless purchased and detected.

If a product is of dubious appearance, origin, or other obvious signs of a fake, it must undergo a series of laboratory tests. Such studies will not only confirm or refute all doubts about the quality, but will also preserve your health, because taking an illegally produced drug can cause significant damage to it.

On the Roszdravnadzor website you can find the addresses of all research centers and choose the one that suits you, because there are such centers in almost all regions of Russia. To find out their exact location, you need to go to the catalog called “Medicines”, find the heading “Quality Control of Medicines”, and then the sub-heading “Reference Information” - this is where all the necessary information is indicated.

It is better to contact the selected laboratory in advance to discuss all the conditions for conducting the examination. In addition, if counterfeit products are detected, the territorial body of Roszdravnadzor should be notified of the violation in order to avoid further distribution of such drugs.
To summarize, having discovered a counterfeit medicine, you need to know how to check its originality by series, number, or barcode, as well as which institutions you should contact in such cases.

Fake: how to recognize?

It is ideally impossible to counterfeit a medicine, so a counterfeit will always have a number of qualities by which it can be recognized:

the price of such a drug, as a rule, is significantly lower than the statistical average, which makes it more attractive to buyers;
packaging of poor quality: inconspicuous inscriptions, thin, loose cardboard, faded and pale colors;
a smeared barcode that is difficult to read;
instructions that look like a hastily made photocopy;
It is also important how the instructions are folded in the packaging: in cases with high-quality medicines, a bottle or plate divides the instructions exactly in half, but in packages with a counterfeit, the recommendation often lies on the side, separate from the drug;
It is worth paying special attention to possible minor inaccuracies, for example, the release date or expiration date on the packaging and on the product itself may not match, even if it is just one number.

Checking the authenticity of the medicine

If you nevertheless bought the necessary drug, but noticed some of the above signs in it, then it is best to check its authenticity. There are several methods for this:

In any pharmacy, the pharmacist must have quality certificates, invoices and declarations corresponding to each product, and you can always ask to see them. Using these documents, it is easy to check the presence of the drug in the system, and this can be done on the official website of Roszdravnadzor.
Another way is to check using a barcode, in which case some arithmetic calculations are required, as a result of which the sum of all digits must be identical to the check number.
Also, the series and number of the product, which are also registered on the Roszdravnadzor website, can “tell” about the authenticity.

Barcode authentication

You can calculate the check number using the following calculations:

first, those numbers are added that occupy even positions, that is, 2, 4, 6, 8 and so on;
the amount received as a result is tripled;
after this, the numbers in odd positions are added, that is, 1, 3, 5, 7 and so on, but with the exception of the control number, the thirteenth;
the data calculated from points 2 and 3 are summed up, after which the tens must be discarded from the resulting sum;
and finally, the figure that was calculated in the previous paragraph is subtracted from 10; the final result must coincide with the control number.

To better understand how this works in practice, let’s carry out the necessary calculations using the example of barcode 7613033490491:

6 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 0 + 9 = 25;
25 x 3 = 75;
7 + 1 + 0 + 3 + 9 + 4 = 24;
75 + 24 = 99;
10 – 9 = 1.

Authentication by series and number

A barcode is not the only way to recognize a substandard product. Another solution is to verify the name, series, and number of the drug, that is, its basic data.

How to check the authenticity of a medicine

You can check the authenticity on the Roszdravnadzor website.

It is there, in the public domain, that the most current information about all medicines, for example, the results of preclinical and clinical studies, is published.

Buying counterfeit goods: how to avoid?

avoid purchasing medications on the Internet, roadside kiosks, or stalls, trusting only certified pharmacy chains;
buy drugs only with a prescription issued by a doctor, and not rely only on the advice of pharmacists;
always ask for a quality certificate and compare the information in it with that indicated on the packaging;
You should not unconditionally trust advertising, because there is a high probability that the most advertised medicines will turn out to be counterfeit.

Where to go if a fake is discovered?

When telling how to detect a counterfeit, it is impossible not to mention where to turn if a counterfeit is nevertheless purchased and detected.

Fake: how to recognize?

It is ideally impossible to counterfeit a medicine, so a counterfeit will always have a number of qualities by which it can be recognized:

the price of such a drug, as a rule, is significantly lower than the statistical average, which makes it more attractive to buyers;
packaging of poor quality: inconspicuous inscriptions, thin, loose cardboard, faded and pale colors;
a smeared barcode that is difficult to read;
instructions that look like a hastily made photocopy;
It is also important how the instructions are folded in the packaging: in cases with high-quality medicines, a bottle or plate divides the instructions exactly in half, but in packages with a counterfeit, the recommendation often lies on the side, separate from the drug;
It is worth paying special attention to possible minor inaccuracies, for example, the release date or expiration date on the packaging and on the product itself may not match, even if it is just one number.

Checking the authenticity of the medicine

If you nevertheless bought the necessary drug, but noticed some of the above signs in it, then it is best to check its authenticity. There are several methods for this:

In any pharmacy, the pharmacist must have quality certificates, invoices and declarations corresponding to each product, and you can always ask to see them. Using these documents, it is easy to check the presence of the drug in the system, and this can be done on the official website of Roszdravnadzor.
Another way is to check using a barcode, in which case some arithmetic calculations are required, as a result of which the sum of all digits must be identical to the check number.
Also, the series and number of the product, which are also registered on the Roszdravnadzor website, can “tell” about the authenticity.

Barcode authentication

You can calculate the check number using the following calculations:

first, those numbers are added that occupy even positions, that is, 2, 4, 6, 8 and so on;
the amount received as a result is tripled;
after this, the numbers in odd positions are added, that is, 1, 3, 5, 7 and so on, but with the exception of the control number, the thirteenth;
the data calculated from points 2 and 3 are summed up, after which the tens must be discarded from the resulting sum;
and finally, the figure that was calculated in the previous paragraph is subtracted from 10; the final result must coincide with the control number.

To better understand how this works in practice, let’s carry out the necessary calculations using the example of barcode 7613033490491:

6 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 0 + 9 = 25;
25 x 3 = 75;
7 + 1 + 0 + 3 + 9 + 4 = 24;
75 + 24 = 99;
10 – 9 = 1.

Authentication by series and number

A barcode is not the only way to recognize a substandard product.

Check the medicine for authenticity using the Online series at Roszdravnadzor

Another solution is to verify the name, series, and number of the drug, that is, its basic data. You can check the authenticity on the Roszdravnadzor website.

It is there, in the public domain, that the most current information about all medicines, for example, the results of preclinical and clinical studies, is published.

Buying counterfeit goods: how to avoid?

avoid purchasing medications on the Internet, roadside kiosks, or stalls, trusting only certified pharmacy chains;
buy drugs only with a prescription issued by a doctor, and not rely only on the advice of pharmacists;
always ask for a quality certificate and compare the information in it with that indicated on the packaging;
You should not unconditionally trust advertising, because there is a high probability that the most advertised medicines will turn out to be counterfeit.

Where to go if a fake is discovered?

When telling how to detect a counterfeit, it is impossible not to mention where to turn if a counterfeit is nevertheless purchased and detected.

Fake: how to recognize?

It is ideally impossible to counterfeit a medicine, so a counterfeit will always have a number of qualities by which it can be recognized:

the price of such a drug, as a rule, is significantly lower than the statistical average, which makes it more attractive to buyers;
packaging of poor quality: inconspicuous inscriptions, thin, loose cardboard, faded and pale colors;
a smeared barcode that is difficult to read;
instructions that look like a hastily made photocopy;
It is also important how the instructions are folded in the packaging: in cases with high-quality medicines, a bottle or plate divides the instructions exactly in half, but in packages with a counterfeit, the recommendation often lies on the side, separate from the drug;
It is worth paying special attention to possible minor inaccuracies, for example, the release date or expiration date on the packaging and on the product itself may not match, even if it is just one number.

Checking the authenticity of the medicine

If you nevertheless bought the necessary drug, but noticed some of the above signs in it, then it is best to check its authenticity. There are several methods for this:

In any pharmacy, the pharmacist must have quality certificates, invoices and declarations corresponding to each product, and you can always ask to see them. Using these documents, it is easy to check the presence of the drug in the system, and this can be done on the official website of Roszdravnadzor.
Another way is to check using a barcode, in which case some arithmetic calculations are required, as a result of which the sum of all digits must be identical to the check number.
Also, the series and number of the product, which are also registered on the Roszdravnadzor website, can “tell” about the authenticity.

Barcode authentication

You can calculate the check number using the following calculations:

first, those numbers are added that occupy even positions, that is, 2, 4, 6, 8 and so on;
the amount received as a result is tripled;
after this, the numbers in odd positions are added, that is, 1, 3, 5, 7 and so on, but with the exception of the control number, the thirteenth;
the data calculated from points 2 and 3 are summed up, after which the tens must be discarded from the resulting sum;
and finally, the figure that was calculated in the previous paragraph is subtracted from 10; the final result must coincide with the control number.

To better understand how this works in practice, let’s carry out the necessary calculations using the example of barcode 7613033490491:

6 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 0 + 9 = 25;
25 x 3 = 75;
7 + 1 + 0 + 3 + 9 + 4 = 24;
75 + 24 = 99;
10 – 9 = 1.

Authentication by series and number

It is there, in the public domain, that the most current information about all medicines, for example, the results of preclinical and clinical studies, is published.

The same portal has a catalog called “Quality Control”, which helps you find out about the quality and authenticity of the product without leaving your home, online.

To do this, you need to enter the drug data into the catalog, and a decision on a ban or permission to produce will appear on the screen.

Buying counterfeit goods: how to avoid?

avoid purchasing medications on the Internet, roadside kiosks, or stalls, trusting only certified pharmacy chains;
buy drugs only with a prescription issued by a doctor, and not rely only on the advice of pharmacists;
always ask for a quality certificate and compare the information in it with that indicated on the packaging;
You should not unconditionally trust advertising, because there is a high probability that the most advertised medicines will turn out to be counterfeit.

Where to go if a fake is discovered?

When telling how to detect a counterfeit, it is impossible not to mention where to turn if a counterfeit is nevertheless purchased and detected.

Fake: how to recognize?

It is ideally impossible to counterfeit a medicine, so a counterfeit will always have a number of qualities by which it can be recognized:

the price of such a drug, as a rule, is significantly lower than the statistical average, which makes it more attractive to buyers;
packaging of poor quality: inconspicuous inscriptions, thin, loose cardboard, faded and pale colors;
a smeared barcode that is difficult to read;
instructions that look like a hastily made photocopy;
It is also important how the instructions are folded in the packaging: in cases with high-quality medicines, a bottle or plate divides the instructions exactly in half, but in packages with a counterfeit, the recommendation often lies on the side, separate from the drug;
It is worth paying special attention to possible minor inaccuracies, for example, the release date or expiration date on the packaging and on the product itself may not match, even if it is just one number.

Checking the authenticity of the medicine

If you nevertheless bought the necessary drug, but noticed some of the above signs in it, then it is best to check its authenticity. There are several methods for this:

In any pharmacy, the pharmacist must have quality certificates, invoices and declarations corresponding to each product, and you can always ask to see them. Using these documents, it is easy to check the presence of the drug in the system, and this can be done on the official website of Roszdravnadzor.
Another way is to check using a barcode, in which case some arithmetic calculations are required, as a result of which the sum of all digits must be identical to the check number.
Also, the series and number of the product, which are also registered on the Roszdravnadzor website, can “tell” about the authenticity.

Barcode authentication

Each product that is produced legally and registered is assigned a unique barcode in the form of a set of numbers.

Rejected medical supplies and medicines. Counterfeit drugs.

Each digit of such a code has its own meaning: country of origin, size, color, size and other parameters of the product. The last number is a control number - it is what determines the authenticity of the product.

You can calculate the check number using the following calculations:

first, those numbers are added that occupy even positions, that is, 2, 4, 6, 8 and so on;
the amount received as a result is tripled;
after this, the numbers in odd positions are added, that is, 1, 3, 5, 7 and so on, but with the exception of the control number, the thirteenth;
the data calculated from points 2 and 3 are summed up, after which the tens must be discarded from the resulting sum;
and finally, the figure that was calculated in the previous paragraph is subtracted from 10; the final result must coincide with the control number.

To better understand how this works in practice, let’s carry out the necessary calculations using the example of barcode 7613033490491:

6 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 0 + 9 = 25;
25 x 3 = 75;
7 + 1 + 0 + 3 + 9 + 4 = 24;
75 + 24 = 99;
10 – 9 = 1.

Authentication by series and number

It is there, in the public domain, that the most current information about all medicines, for example, the results of preclinical and clinical studies, is published.

Buying counterfeit goods: how to avoid?

avoid purchasing medications on the Internet, roadside kiosks, or stalls, trusting only certified pharmacy chains;
buy drugs only with a prescription issued by a doctor, and not rely only on the advice of pharmacists;
always ask for a quality certificate and compare the information in it with that indicated on the packaging;
You should not unconditionally trust advertising, because there is a high probability that the most advertised medicines will turn out to be counterfeit.

Where to go if a fake is discovered?

When telling how to detect a counterfeit, it is impossible not to mention where to turn if a counterfeit is nevertheless purchased and detected.

The pharmaceutical market is growing very rapidly, a large number of new drugs are appearing, which do not always correspond to the declared composition, may be of poor quality or even fake. Therefore, it would be useful to know how to check the authenticity of a medicine so as not to pay money for simple chalk or glucose.

Signs of a counterfeit drug

A counterfeit will always have differences from the original, so it can be recognized by the following indicators:

the cost of the drug differs sharply from the average price in the city and is too low;
the packaging is made of thin cardboard, the colors and inscriptions are pale, unclear, possibly blurry;
barcode, series and number are difficult to read, blurred in several places;
the instructions look more like a photocopy than a printed sheet;
It is worth paying attention not only to the quality of printing of the recommendation, but also to how it is folded: in a fake, the instructions may be located separately from the drug, but in a genuine product, the bottle or plates with tablets divide it clearly in half;
the series, release date, expiration date on the packaging and the drug do not completely match or differ in one number.

Methods for verifying the authenticity of a medicine

If there is any doubt about whether it has at least one of the listed signs, then it is worth knowing how to check the authenticity of the medicine, what methods exist for this. Whether the remedy is real or not can be determined by the following methods:

Ask the pharmacist for the relevant product, delivery note and declaration for it. Using these documents, you can check on the Roszdravnadzor website whether a given drug is registered in the system.
By barcode - one of the effective ways to determine counterfeit, it is done by arithmetic addition of all numbers, the sum of which must coincide with the check number.
By series, number and name of the drug through the portal "quality.rf" or the website of Roszdravnadzor.

How to check the authenticity of a medicine using a barcode

Any registered and legally produced product has a special barcode, which consists of a set of numbers. This labeling of products allows you to know the authenticity of the drug. Each number encrypts data about the country of origin, enterprise, product, its properties, color, size, the last number is a control number, it allows you to check the originality of the medicine.

To calculate the check digit, the following arithmetic calculations must be performed:

first add up all the numbers in even positions, i.e. 2, 4 and so on;
the resulting amount from the first point must be multiplied by 3;
then add up the numbers in odd places: 1, 3, 5, etc., except for the control number;
now it is necessary to summarize the data obtained in points 2 and 3, and discard the tens from this sum;
the number that was obtained in point 5 is subtracted from 10; the final result must coincide with the control number.

For a better understanding of how to check the authenticity of a medicine using a barcode, you can give the following example of calculations with code 4606782066911:

6 + 6 + 8 + 0 + 6 + 1 = 27;
27 x 3 = 81;
4 + 0 + 7 + 2 + 6 + 9 = 28;
81 + 28 = 109;
10 - 9 = 1.

Based on these calculations, the control and final numbers coincide and equal 1, therefore, the product is genuine.

The discrepancy between the data obtained indicates that the product was produced illegally and is counterfeit.

How to check the authenticity of a medicine by series and number

Another way to check a drug is to check its basic data: name, series and number. Roszdravnadzor provides the public with the opportunity to control the authenticity of medicines through their website, where information is published on inspections of preclinical and clinical trials of drugs, as well as information on the results of these activities.

In addition, you can check the medicine through the portal "quality.rf", where there is all the necessary information related to the drugs: about manufacturers, important news about government proposals and decisions in the field of medicine, about the quality of products presented on the Russian pharmaceutical market.

The portal "quality.rf" has a section that helps answer the question of how to check the authenticity of a medicine by series online. To do this, you need to go to the “Quality Control” catalog and enter the necessary data, after which a sign will appear with a decision to authorize or prohibit the release of the drug.

How not to buy a counterfeit?

To avoid purchasing a fake, you must consider the following recommendations:

buy medicines only in the pharmacy chain, do not take drugs by hand, from distributors, in small kiosks or stalls, on the Internet;
You should not purchase products without a doctor’s prescription, on the advice of a pharmacist;
It is recommended to ask the pharmacist for a quality certificate, compare the information indicated in it with that contained on the drug packaging;
It is better to refrain from buying an advertised product, as there is a high probability of falling for a fake.

Where to go if you discover a counterfeit?

When considering the question of how to check the authenticity of a medicine, it is necessary to tell where to go if the purchased drug is in doubt, it has several clear signs of a counterfeit, and the drug has not passed any of the methods for identifying the original. In this case, the medicine must be subjected to laboratory tests that can confirm or refute the counterfeit.

There are scientific centers in almost all regions of Russia, the location of which can be found on the Roszdravnadzor website. To do this, you need to go to the “Medicines” catalog, select the “Quality Control of Medicines” section, where in the “Reference Information” subsection all accredited laboratories operating in the Russian Federation are indicated.

To clarify the conditions of the examination, it is recommended to contact the required laboratory. In addition, it is necessary to bring information about the counterfeit medicine to the attention of the territorial body of Roszdravnadzor.

Thus, if you detect any signs of counterfeiting, it is important to know how to check the authenticity of the medicine by series, number, barcode, as well as where to go if the medicine has not passed the originality test.