In an attempt to end counterfeit Viagra Pfizer has started attaching high-tech radio identification tags to packages of its anti-impotence drug. Special signals will be sent of by the tag and these can be picked up by pharmacists in the United States on a specially-designed electronic scanner. This would help in identifying if the package is genuine or not.
The product code is sent over the internet to a secure Pfizer Web site to confirm its authenticity after it is detected by a scanner.
This step has been taken to help pharmacists who fill prescriptions for Pfizer medicines and patients who use Viagra have a sense of confidence that they are receiving authentic product and a fake. According Pfizer the reason why Viagra was selected is because it had become a major target of counterfeiters
The Food and Drug Administration says it is hard to know how large a problem counterfeiting is in the pharmaceutical industry. It is not as much of a problem in the United States as in Southeast Asian countries, where about 10 percent of the drugs on the market are believed to be bogus.
It was stressed by Pfizer that this new technology won’t make it possible for pharmacists or wholesalers to collect any sort of patient information.
