North America Ranks Fourth in Worldwide Fake Drug Incidents
In North America, there were 199 reported incidents of counterfeit medicines in 2009, greater than Africa, the Near East, and Eurasia.
In North America, there were 199 reported incidents of counterfeit medicines in 2009, greater than Africa, the Near East, and Eurasia. Only Latin America, Europe and Asia had more counterfeit incidents. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection identified fake medicines as the greatest percentage of all seizures in 2009, measured in dollars.
SiteJabber, a consumer protection service funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation which helps people avoid fraudulent websites, posted a graphic on the size and growth of the international counterfeit drug industry.
Incidents worldwide have been measured as increase by 10x from 2002 to 2009. The increase in fakes by therapeutic category has been greatest in alimentary, drugs used to treat illness of the gastrointenstinal and hepato-biliary systems, 57%, while the second greatest therapeutic category is anti-infective at 48%. Anti-infective drugs include antibiotics, antifungals and antivirals, antiparasitics, antimalarials and anti-virals.