Beware of Spurious Medicines

Chapter 21 · Vihang Rahul Vasa

This is an uncomfortable topic, but it must be addressed because your life depends on the authenticity of every medicine you consume. Despite our world-class pharmaceutical industry, we have a well-documented problem with duplicate, spurious, and counterfeit medicines entering the market. This does not happen everywhere, and it is far less common in urban areas where supply chains are tightly regulated, but a sufficient number of cases have been reported across the country, including in cities, to warrant awareness, vigilance, and caution.

A spurious medicine may look identical to the genuine one, same packaging, same colour, same shape, but it may contain little to no active ingredient, incorrect dosages, or even harmful substances. For a person with diabetes who depends on medication to keep plasma glucose (blood sugar) in a safe range, taking a counterfeit medicine could mean days or weeks of unexplained high readings, dangerous fluctuations, or a false belief that the medicine has stopped working: when in reality, you were never taking the real medicine at all.

Here is how you can protect yourself:

• Always buy your medication from a reputed and trusted pharmacy or chemist: preferably one you have used for years and trust completely. Avoid purchasing from unknown shops, roadside vendors, or unverified online platforms.

• Do not buy medicines in bulk. Purchase a maximum of one month’s supply at a time. This limits your exposure if a particular batch turns out to be compromised, and it ensures your medicines are always fresh.

• Always check the manufacturing date, expiry date, batch number, and the manufacturer’s name on every strip or bottle. Ensure they are all within normal limits and clearly printed: blurred, smudged, or missing details are a red flag.

• Pay close attention to the small details of the packaging: the quality of the box, the print clarity, the colour consistency, the spelling on the label, the hologram (if any), the size and finish of the tablets or capsules, and the seal of the strip. Counterfeit medicines often have subtle differences in these details that your eye can catch if you are paying attention. Compare with a previous strip you know was genuine.

• If, for whatever reason, you feel that your medicine is not working the way it should, your readings are suddenly off despite no change in diet or lifestyle, do not experiment on your own. Contact your doctor or pharmacist promptly and share your observations. You may also change your source of purchase to a trusted pharmacy, and report the suspected batch through the official channels described below.

• Many leading pharmaceutical companies now offer verification tools, QR codes, SMS-based authentication, or barcode scanning apps, that allow you to verify whether a medicine is genuine. Use these tools whenever available.

• If you suspect that you have received a spurious medicine, report it immediately to your pharmacist, your doctor, and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO): India’s national drug regulatory authority under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. You can file a complaint and check monthly lists of spurious and substandard drugs on their official website at cdsco.gov.in. You may also report to your state’s drug control authority. CDSCO actively publishes monthly drug alerts listing medicines found to be Not of Standard Quality or spurious: checking this list periodically is a good habit. Your report could protect countless others.

This concern is more pronounced in remote and rural locations where supply chains are longer and less regulated, but it is not absent in urban India either. Be aware, be vigilant, and be cautious, because the medicine you trust with your health must be worthy of that trust.

Illustration: Chapter 21 illustrated summary. Authenticity checks include a trusted pharmacy, clear packaging details, seal and expiry, and verification when available.

Chapter 21 Authenticity checks include a trusted pharmacy, clear packaging details, seal and expiry, and verification when available. Unexpected readings prompt doctor or pharmacist review.

Chapter at a glance: an AI-generated illustration to be read with the chapter, not instead of it. The people shown are not real.