Counterfeits in Time of Pandemic

By Fernando González-Ruiz M. – Associate

As expected, counterfeiters are not resting, not even in the midst of the pandemic that affects us all worldwide.

According to the Ministry of Health, Covid-19 infection can occur through contact with an affected person who coughs or sneezes, or also by touching contaminated objects or surfaces and then touching the nose, mouth or eyes. For this reason, the World Health Organization (WHO) has dictated some basic protection measures to avoid contagion, which have been adopted by the Panamanian government, such as maintaining physical distancing , washing hands frequently and wearing masks in public places, among others.

As a result of the adoption of these preventive measures, many people rushed to supermarkets and pharmacies to buy alcohol gel, disinfectant cleaning products, masks, thermometers and gloves, which caused the sales volume of these types of products to skyrocket. In many countries, including ours, the use of masks is mandatory when leaving the house and in others, the same businesses are the ones that make this requirement mandatory to be able to enter their establishments. Because of this, there has been a shortage of these products in pharmacies and/or stores in general. The phrase “if you want masks, thermometers, gloves or alcohol gel, I have a friend who sells them” has begun to be heard a lot.

Due to the problem seen in other countries, where illegal websites, social media and other forms of online sales offer medicines that even promise to cure Covid-19, which the WHO and our health authorities have warned do not yet exist, the National Directorate of Pharmacy and Drugs issued a statement warning the population not to buy medicines in unauthorized places, since these medicines may be contaminated -during production-, be fake or be incorrectly labeled.

In recent days, INTERPOL coordinated Operation Pangea XIII, involving police, customs and health regulatory authorities from 90 countries. Counterfeit face masks, substandard hand sanitizers and unauthorized antiviral drugs were seized. The operation resulted in 121 arrests worldwide and the seizure of potentially dangerous pharmaceutical products worth more than US$ 14 million.

Panama is not far behind in this new modality. During this health crisis, we have been able to observe a large number of Instagram accounts promoting and selling all kinds of masks, alcohol gel, thermometers and gloves, even as packages recklessly called “KIT AGAINST COVID-19.”

After analyzing several of these accounts, we were able to observe that many of them improperly use the term FARMA in their name, some describe their business as “home delivery pharmacies” and others use logos similar to that of a legally established pharmacy, which is undoubtedly misleading for the consumer, since they imply that they are an authorized pharmacy, which in order to operate legally in Panama requires, after complying with a series of requirements, a special Operating License granted by the National Directorate of Pharmacy and Drugs.

It is important to highlight that many of these masks, gels and gloves sold through these accounts do not bear any type of brand or label to assure us that they are genuine products or that they comply with the health regulations imposed by Panamanian legislation. For the most part, the alcohol gels offered do not indicate on their labels the name of the manufacturer or the number of the Health Registry issued by the National Directorate of Pharmacy and Drugs.

Counterfeit masks, gloves, thermometers and alcohol gels can pose a threat to the well-being of medical workers and anyone who uses them, as they are not made with the correct materials or ingredients or in sterile environments. In the specific case of masks, according to industry experts, they lack the specifications that prevent the entry and exit of pathogens that are dispersed through the respiratory tract.

These masks are often manufactured in countries such as Turkey, India and China. In Turkey alone, police reportedly raided a factory where they confiscated a million masks from an unauthorized factory. Another example is the Spanish government, which purchased thousands of kits for carrying out infection tests manufactured in China, which turned out to be defective and therefore ineffective. They were purchased from a company that had not been granted the required authorization by the Chinese government.

The sale of these products in Panama can be considered not only a crime against intellectual property, but also a crime against public health, both of which are classified by our Penal Code and carry sentences of between three and six years in prison. This is because by offering, without being legally authorized, these products that do not have the corresponding registration to be sold in our country, consumers, thinking they are protected, could contract this disease that in some cases could be lethal.

It is very important to be aware and very alert when purchasing these types of products, to avoid being deceived and to be sure that we are buying high-quality health products that will truly protect our health and that of our families.