Counterfeiting and Public Health

Abstract:     
In the debate about counterfeiting and public health there is a tendency to conflate three distinct issues: first, counterfeit goods that infringe trademarks; second, medicines suspected of infringing patents; and, third, falsified medicines which contain the wrong or insufficient active ingredients. By conflating issues of counterfeiting with patent infringement, the seizure of generic drugs by the Dutch customs authorities under the auspices of the EU Border Measures Regulation raises the prospect that public health imperatives are being jeopardized by a tendency to merge concerns about counterfeit goods that infringe trademarks, with the debate about how best to deal with medicines suspected of infringing patents. In fact, the most immediate concern for public health lies elsewhere with falsified medicines which contain the wrong or insufficient active ingredients that may be a risk to human health.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 24

Accepted Paper Series