How to check the authenticity of a medicine
Medicines are what save our lives, cure us and ease our pain. Whenever a person feels uneasiness in their body, which could be due to several reasons, they tend to visit a doctor and take prescriptions from them. The medicines prescribed by the doctor are then bought from a local pharmaceutical and consumed as per the directions.
But what if the so-called “life-saving drug” that we rely on for our health and body, turns out to be what deteriorates it. There are certainly several ways one could get back at the pharmacist and the Pharma company. But wouldn’t it be better if we could simply make sure that the drugs that we are being sold are authentic and wouldn’t harm us in any way. Hence, to protect yourself, you need to authenticate your Medicine.
In this article, we shall be discussing some ways to make sure that the drugs sold to us are authentic.
The seal:
The seal is the most important part of the packaging. Make sure that you check the seal of the drugs you buy. The drug should be well sealed when bought. Also, the seal should be checked before buying any product, even if it is a water bottle.
A broken seal shows that the product has been already opened or even used before it was sold. Many times pharmacists or vendors could break the seal of the product and adulterate it. Hence, one should always make it a point to check the seal of the product, before buying it and do not buy a drug or any product that has a broken seal.
Packaging:
It is surely said not to judge a book by its cover but in the case of drugs and medicines, make sure you do. The packaging of a product says a lot about the drug. Many times vendors and pharmacists buy fake medicines which are copies of an authentic brand and mix them with the original medicines. The fake medicines are bought at a much cheaper price and sold at the same price as the original medicine.
To make sure that you aren’t selling fake medicine, make sure you check the packaging. In most cases, the fake medicines have a lot of spelling mistakes on them, especially in the names of the drugs used in the medicine. Also, the colors used to print the texts on the packaging are slightly different from those used on the original medicine.
Visual inspection:
WHO has mentioned some ground rules to judge if the medicine is in the right state to be consumed. Before buying a medicine make sure you inspect how it looks on the outside. If the tablet has been broken into small pieces or if you see the powdered form of the tablets settled at the bottom of the container, then you shouldn’t buy it.
If the tablet has visible cracks or if you can see crystals of the tablet stuck to the walls of its container, then do not buy it. If the medicine is softer or harder than its usual texture, do not consume it. If the tablets appear discolored or swollen, do not buy them.
Cost of the medicine:
Many fake medicine suppliers sell their medicine at a cheaper price to bring it to the market and to increase its sales. These medicines are usually copies of medicine that are produced and sold by an authentic brand.
So when you go to a pharma shop and the pharmacist sells you medicine at a price lower than its original price, you must check its packaging and make sure that it has not expired or is fake.
Side effects:
A lot of medicines have some side effects like antibiotics when given through the intravenous route, seldom, but might make one feel nauseous. However, if after consuming a medicine, you feel side effects that you’ve never felt before, you must check the authenticity of the medicine. If consuming an antipyretic suddenly gives you rashes and allergies, then you must consult a doctor and also check for the authenticity of your medicine.
The best way to check the authenticity of the medicine is by texting the unique “Authentication code” of the medicine to 9901099010. This method has been developed by the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) to check the sale of fake drugs.
Conclusion:
Checking the authenticity of the medicine and drugs we consume is very important. To protect yourself from any side-effects, you need to authenticate your medicine. To do so, one must start by checking the seal of the medicine. This should be followed by checking the packaging of the medicine and looking for any kinds of spelling mistakes or changes in the color of the texts.
If the tablets have cracks, or their powder has settled at the bottom of the container, or if they appear swollen or discolored, they must not be consumed. One could also text the unique “Authentication code” of the medicine to 9901099010 to check its authenticity.