Counterfeiting Medical Devices: A Global Threat

Safety of Medical devices

Abstract

The safety of patients is constantly and seriously threatened by counterfeit medical devices. Counterfeit  medical supplies violates patients' rights, diminishes the value of the brand, and costs original equipment manufacturers revenue. The objective and purpose of medical treatment can be completely defeated by fake or inferior equipment. When a counterfeit product is used in the life sciences sector, particularly medical devices, it puts the patient at risk and has an impact on the manufacturer through potential brand damage, the expense of removing these counterfeit products from the supply chain, and additional work to prevent future problems. Therefore, it is imperative that producers of medical devices make sure their supply chain, packing, and labeling are tight and carefully traced until the point of use. Both the manufacturer and the consumer are safeguarded by anti-counterfeiting techniques. Manufacturers can include deterrents to each of components of packaging to prevent counterfeiting like hologram, UV identifying code, a 2D barcode with special numbering or serialization, or concealed text written with magnetic or security ink. To make sure the functional quality and effectiveness of these medical devices, proper adaptive and regulatory measures are needed to be in place.