In a June 21st press release Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the government agency tasked with protection the nation’s pharmaceutical and health care products announced the following:
The TGA is urgently investigating the source of the counterfeit Viagra (sildenafil) that has been supplied in Australia and has entered the wholesale/pharmacy supply chain.
The counterfeit product is labeled as 100 mg tablets in packs of 4 with Batch Number 314833021 and Expiry Date 04 2012.
To date there is no evidence that the product is harmful. The TGA has analysed a number of the counterfeit tablets and has found that sildenafil is present but not in the correct dose. However, because this batch has not been manufactured under controlled conditions it is not possible to extrapolate these test results to other samples of this batch. Therefore consumers in possession of Viagra tablets bearing this batch number and expiry date are advised not to take them but to return them to the pharmacy at which they were dispensed.
The details of the batch and expiry date for the product can be found embossed on the white left-hand panel of the carton flap.
No other batches of product have been implicated.
Pharmacies across Australia have been advised to quarantine stocks of this batch to prevent any further distribution.
This incident reiterates the need for supply chain authentication by all members of the pharmaceutical supply chain (production to dispenser) to eliminate the risks of consumers receiving fraudulent, adulterated or counterfeit medications.
Secure Pharma Chain Blog endorses the the deployment of a variety of solutions including authentication of drugs within their unit-of-sale container to verify the legitimacy and efficacy of the product to the consumer.
To read the press release, visit: http://www.tga.gov.au/alerts/medicines/viagra.htm.
To learn more about pharmaceutical supply chain solutions, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.
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