By: Alan Clock, Senior Vice President, XStream Systems, Inc.
The following is a re-post of a Secure Pharma Chain opinion blog from 2010:
Industry security experts are noticing a significant trend in the illegal counterfeit medication trade and unfortunately it does not bode well for the unsuspecting consumer.
Apparently the sophisticated drug counterfeiter is realizing that as the consumer and supply chain becomes more aware of this deadly crime, they must be more clever in marketing their wares publicly.
With the Internet and its anonymity the counterfeiter has been able to market directly to the supply chain and consumer. In the past all they had to do was to offer their bogus goods online at a dramatically lower price than the genuine product and they would automatically have a ready supply of buyers.
Today as the consumer becomes more aware of the exploding issue of fake medications they are heeding the buyer beware mantra of "if a deal is too good to be true, it probably is" and avoiding nefarious deals.
Naturally the smart counterfeiter is now raising his price, just enough to appear as if it is a dramatically discounted, genuine product but not too good to appear to be "too good to be true" to the end user.
The perfect, high margin crime of pharmaceutical counterfeiting is becoming even more lucrative.
Now more than ever, the pharmaceutical supply chain needs to protect itself by deploying a variety of safeguards and technologies to make certain that products that flow through their inventories are authentic and safe. Consumers need to be very diligent and cautious to make certain that they are buying their medications from a reliable and trusted pharmacy and not from sources that do not require prescriptions from your personal physician.
As it relates to your medications, "buyer beware" not only means protecting your pocketbook but protecting your health and well being as well.
To learn more about pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting technologies, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.
Apparently the sophisticated drug counterfeiter is realizing that as the consumer and supply chain becomes more aware of this deadly crime, they must be more clever in marketing their wares publicly.
With the Internet and its anonymity the counterfeiter has been able to market directly to the supply chain and consumer. In the past all they had to do was to offer their bogus goods online at a dramatically lower price than the genuine product and they would automatically have a ready supply of buyers.
Today as the consumer becomes more aware of the exploding issue of fake medications they are heeding the buyer beware mantra of "if a deal is too good to be true, it probably is" and avoiding nefarious deals.
Naturally the smart counterfeiter is now raising his price, just enough to appear as if it is a dramatically discounted, genuine product but not too good to appear to be "too good to be true" to the end user.
The perfect, high margin crime of pharmaceutical counterfeiting is becoming even more lucrative.
Now more than ever, the pharmaceutical supply chain needs to protect itself by deploying a variety of safeguards and technologies to make certain that products that flow through their inventories are authentic and safe. Consumers need to be very diligent and cautious to make certain that they are buying their medications from a reliable and trusted pharmacy and not from sources that do not require prescriptions from your personal physician.
As it relates to your medications, "buyer beware" not only means protecting your pocketbook but protecting your health and well being as well.
To learn more about pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting technologies, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.
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