The quality of medicines bought from an unauthorised website is not guaranteed, and falsified or counterfeit medicines can be offered for sale.
According to the WHO, falsified or counterfeit medicines can be found anywhere in the world.
The components of these medicines, including the active substances, are often of poor quality, falsified, in the wrong dosage or even absent, and therefore represent a serious threat to public health. They can consist of toxic mixtures of products, as well as ineffective preparations.
Sometimes it is difficult for both health professionals and patients to distinguish a falsified medicine from a genuine product.
In all cases, these medicines are of unknown origin and their composition is not reliable.
Counterfeit versions of all kinds of medicines exist, both specialised and generic.