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The online distribution of counterfeit medicines has been growing during the last decades. The role of Internet as an unregulated medicine market is the main reasons behind this phenomenon, especially the effectiveness of “spam” as a tool for advertising and promoting these products. Websites and social media are new powerful instruments that organized criminal groups could exploit to conduct their illicit businesses. The spread of this emerging threat worldwide poses a very high risk for the health and safety of unaware consumers. ==Definition== According to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition,〔For more information see also WHO website: http://www.who.int/medicines/services/counterfeit/en/index.html〕 a counterfeit medicine is a pharmaceutical product whose origin and/or identity specifications have been deliberately and fraudulently modified, regardless whether it is a pharmaceutical product protected by a patent or whether it concerns a generic drug. This commonly accepted meaning falls within the broader concept of substandard medicines.〔http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/2003/fs275/en/ WHO, Fact sheet N°275, November 2003〕 The meaning associated with “counterfeit medicines” incorporates various cases that are ascribable to the adulteration/replication of a product and/or tampering of the relevant packaging: * Products containing the same active ingredients and the same excipients of the original pharmaceutical agent, correctly packaged and labeled, but illegally imported into a country. * Products containing the same ingredients of the genuine medicine, with genuine packaging, but containing incorrect amounts of ingredients. * Products which – despite being identical from an external point of view and have genuine packaging – do not contain any active ingredients. * Products externally similar to original products with genuine packaging, but containing harmful substances instead of the same active ingredients. * Products with counterfeit packaging and correct amounts of active ingredients. * Products with counterfeit packaging but with different amounts of active ingredients. * Products with counterfeit packaging that contain a different active ingredient. * Products with counterfeit packaging that do not contain active ingredients. The counterfeiting of medicines may also involve products being initially genuine but whose packaging has been modified declaring a higher level of active ingredients than the actual amount of the product, thereby allowing for an increase in sales price. Expired drugs may also be placed within packages that report a later expiration date. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Counterfeit medicines online」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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