How can pharmacists, physicians, and other healthcare professionals identify counterfeit medications?
A. Pharmacists, physicians, and other healthcare professionals should familiarize themselves with those drugs most likely to be counterfeited and how to identify these products. FDA periodically places updated information regarding counterfeiting on its website at www.fda.gov/counterfeit. Healthcare professionals should suspect that a patient may have received a counterfeit drug if the patient has experienced an unexplained worsening of their medical condition or an unexpected side effect. Also, if a patient reports that the drug tastes or looks different, if tablets are chipped or cracked, or if the patient experiences burning at the injection site for an injectable drug, they might have a counterfeit. Healthcare professionals who believe that a patient has received a counterfeit drug should contact the FDA immediately. In addition, any irregularity in packaging or labeling of a drug product should be reported to the FDA and to the manufacturer immediately.
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