Any counterfeit medicine may contain ingredients that pose a serious risk to health, and may even be fatal. An illegal pharmaceutical product can be very similar in appearance to the originaldiffering by subtle differences or sometimes only with the confirmation of analysis.
The growing illegal sale of medicines in free fairs is a high-risk practice that generates concern in the Industrial Association of Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Asilfa)since it fosters an informal market for counterfeit medicines of low therapeutic quality, while at the same time it has become an important source of self-medication.
According to figures from Public Health Instituteseizures for the illegal sale of medicines are on the rise, with an increase of 29% between 2020 and 2021, which include antibiotics and medicines with a withheld prescription such as Clonazepam, whose illegal trade violates Law 20,000, making it considered drug trafficking.
From the laboratories union, this increase in figures is viewed with great concern, since it means a health problem for the Chilean population. About, Elmer Torresexecutive vice president of asilfaMaintains that “The first great danger of this type of trade is that it deals with drugs whose storage conditions are not guaranteed, so it is very likely that their therapeutic quality is at risk.”
Counterfeits and expirations
Another danger that is run when buying medicines informally is accessing counterfeit products, whose medicinal properties are non-existent or even contain harmful substances. According to the Asilfa expert this “It becomes a double jeopardy when it comes to remedies for patients with chronic conditions, since you are not only consuming an adulterated product, but you also eliminate the effectiveness of the treatment.”
For Torres, a pharmaceutical chemist from the University of Chileremedies that are purchased outside formal establishments increase the risk of accessing expired medications, so that after their expiration date there are no guarantees as to their quality and efficacy.
“In addition, behind this explosive increase there is a hidden risk and it is the growing self-medication of the Chilean population, since the illegal sale of medicines has become an important source of access to remedies without consultation or medical prescription”he adds.
Although the ISP controls and issues fines, the illegal sale of medicines is a practice that continues to rise despite the risks it entails, so the final decision depends on the awareness that people can take about the dangers behind this decision of purchase.
