25.3.20: News from the European Medicines Agency
The EMA
is urging the general public not to buy medicines from unauthorised
websites and other vendors aiming to exploit fears and concerns during
the ongoing pandemic of
coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Vendors
may claim that their products can treat or prevent COVID-19 or may
appear to provide easy access to legitimate medicines that are otherwise
not readily available. Such products
are likely to be
falsified medicines.
Falsified medicines
are fake medicines that vendors
pass off as real or authorised. They may contain the wrong or no active
ingredient or the right ingredient in the wrong amount. They may also
contain very harmful substances that should not be in medicines. Taking
such products can lead to severe health problems
or a worsening of your condition.
To
protect yourself from fraudulent vendors, only buy medicines from a
local pharmacy or retailer or from an online pharmacy that is registered
with the
national competent authorities. You can find the
lists of registered online pharmacies in EU countries via EMA’s website or directly from websites of the
national competent authorities.
All registered online pharmacies have a
common logo which you can use to confirm that the site is
registered. The logo consists of a rectangle with horizontal stripes and
a white cross placed in the left half of the rectangle adjacent to the
midline. Below this is the flag of the EU country where
the online pharmacy is registered.
Before
buying a medicine from a site, check that the site has the logo and
then click on it. You will then be taken
to the website of your national authority and shown a list of all
legally operating online pharmacies. Check that the online pharmacy you
have visited is listed there before continuing with your purchase. If it
is not listed, do not buy any medicine from that
site.
Keeping safe when buying medicines
|
The public is reminded that there are currently no treatments authorised for COVID-19. Medicines are available for treating
symptoms such as fever in line with advice from your doctor or pharmacist.
In the event of a shortage of any medicines, you should follow the advice of your doctor, pharmacist or
national competent authority. You can find some
information about ongoing shortages on the websites of EMA and the
national competent authorities.
This information has been published on our
website with related content. Please check EMA’s dedicated webpage on
COVID-19 for the latest updates.
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have received this mail because you have registered in the EMA
stakeholders database
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to unsubscribe.
We would be grateful if you could disseminate this email to anyone else who might be interested in this information.
The above release was disseminated by the EMA's Public and Stakeholders Engagement Department
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