Department Of Health Warning Over Unregulated Drugs

The Department of Health has warned against the dangers of using medicines from unregulated sources.

Enforcement officials from the Department's Medicines Regulatory Group (MRG) were speaking following a two-day conference in Dublin called 'Ten Years of Combating Pharmaceutical Crime: Review and prospects'.

The conference brought together 200 medicines regulators, law enforcement and customs officials from 50 countries around Europe.

Professor Mike Mawhinney, Head of the DHSSPS’s Health's Medicines Regulatory Group, said: "Through active multi- agency collaboration at home and abroad, the Department will continue to work with key partners to take action to disrupt the availability and supply of illegal medicines and take every opportunity to raise public awareness around the dangers of using medicines from unregulated sources."

Department of Health Senior Medicines Enforcement Officer Peter Moore, who attended the conference, said: "Globally we are seeing a general increase in the trade and availability of illicit medicines. Fake medicines often contain dangerous contaminants or wrong amounts of active ingredient - too much, too little or none at all. This poses potentially major health risks and Northern Ireland is not immune from this threat.

"Recent thefts and seizures of prescription medicines highlights that pharmaceutical crime is an ongoing issue that we must address. I would again urge the public to be vigilant and to avoid putting their health at risk by purchasing medication from an illicit source. People should only take medicines in consultation with their healthcare professionals who have access to patient health records."

Yesterday, the PSNI and Department of Health warned the public regarding black market prescription drugs, following the theft of a quantity of prescription medicines. The drugs are oval in shape and are marked with 'KAP' on one side and 'AKE' on the reverse.

(IT/MH)