Newsroom - Anti-falsification activities
Public consultation on Traceability of Medicines in Hospital Settings
The European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare is seeking comments from interested parties on a draft guidance document on the topic of “Traceability of Medicines in Hospital Settings”. The objective of this project is to provide regulatory authorities and stakeholders with a...
OMCL confirms falsification of Ozempic® batches
Following concerns that falsified batches of Ozempic® may have entered the market, the Official Medicines Control Laboratory (OMCL) Chemisches und Veterinäruntersuchungsamt (CVUA, Karlsruhe, Germany) and a member of the European OMCL Network, has determined by analytical testing that suspected...
Falsification of medical devices – Results of European survey
The falsification of medical devices is a serious international matter of concern, but little data is available, making it difficult to assess the current state of affairs. To help bridge this gap, the Committee of Experts on Minimising Public Health Risks Posed by Falsification of Medical...
The Council of Europe appoints future EDQM Director
The Council of Europe has appointed Petra Dörr, PhD, as future Director of the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM). She will take over the function from the current Director, Susanne Keitel, in October 2021. Petra Dörr comes to the EDQM with more than 25 years of...
Impact of COVID-19 crisis – National authorities in Europe report shortages of medical products and increase in illegal activities
The Committee of Experts on Minimising Public Health Risks Posed by Falsification of Medical Products and Similar Crimes (CD-P-PH/CMED) held its spring meeting via videoconference from 26 to 28 May 2020. Some 35 delegates from 24 countries participated. A dedicated discussion took place to...
Council of Europe study highlights inadequacy of legislation on pharmaceutical crime
A recent study, "Medicrime vs Volcano: a practical case study on how the Council of Europe Convention could improve the fight against pharmaceutical crime", carried out within the framework of the Council of Europe MEDICRIME Convention has highlighted shortcomings of current legislative...
Slovenia signs the MEDICRIME convention
Slovenia signed the Council of Europe Convention on the counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes involving threats to public health (CETS 211, MEDICRIME Convention) on 6 March 2019. The Convention now counts 14 signatory countries as well as 15 countries who have ratified it. The...
Falsification of medical products: a revised version of Know-X database is launched
The EDQM has launched a revised version of its Know-X database. This project jointly carried out by the Official Medicines Control Laboratories (OMCL) Network and the EDQM’s Committee of Experts on Minimising Public Health Risks Posed by Falsification of Medical Products and Similar Crimes...
OMCLs discuss Brexit and updates to medicines’ testing methods at annual meeting
The Annual Meeting of the Official Medicines Control Laboratories (OMCLs) took place on 14-18 May in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina). It was attended by 230 participants from 38 countries, representing 65 official laboratories and including a representative of the OMCL Network, the Taiwan Food...