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Description
Among the many challenges the European pharmaceutical industry currently faces, possibly the largest risk to any type of company is the loss of brand image and market value as a result of fraudulent products freely available to consumers.
This is a greater problem for pharmaceutical companies than most others because of the inherent risks to patients' health.
There have been a number of cases where negative press and TV coverage has all but destroyed medicines that have taken many years and vast investments to bring to market. Patient safety in general, and counterfeit medicines in particular, are topics that are on the rise when it comes to media interest. For example, on UK primetime television recently, the undercover investigation programme Tonight with Trevor McDonald ('Is Your Medicine Fake?' Monday 9 January, 2006) was dedicated to the subject. It also illustrated weaknesses in the vetting and licensing of wholesalers by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the incorrect storage of phials requiring refrigeration--further undermining confidence in prescription medicines.
Assessing the risks
In the European market people generally have a good degree of confidence in the medicines that they buy from their pharmacy But should this be taken for granted, particularly if there are a rising number of reports highlighting the inherent risks in the... |
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