Study: Half of Croatia’s black market drugs are counterfeit

A recent study in Croatia revealed that nearly half of the medication seized from the country’s illegal supply chain are counterfeit drugs.

The study, published in the Croatian language journal Lijecnicki Vjesnik, found that of the 26 samples of erectile dysfunction medication seized in the bust, 13 were counterfeit, according to BiomedME.com.

The samples underwent high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in the laboratory and the phony samples showed a number of inconsistencies in not only the identity of the active ingredients but also in the quantity of it. These inconsistencies indicate that they may be counterfeit, according to researchers. Two of the samples contained none of the claimed active ingredient.

The researchers were quick to point out that the samples came from the illegal sources, rather than the country’s secure pharmaceutical supply chain.

“To this day, there have been no recorded cases of counterfeit medicines in the legal supply chain in Croatia,” the researchers claim.

According to the World Health Organizations, more than 50 percent of drugs bought from online pharmacies are counterfeit