NSW Health has issued a warning to consumers not to buy prescription medications from overseas websites or off the street after the discovery of counterfeit versions of anti-anxiety drugs.
Clinical Director at the NSW Poisons Information Centre, Andrew Dawson said a number of products had been found to contain alternate drugs, instead of the drug identified on the label.
“These can be extremely harmful,” Professor Dawson said.
“We have seen a doubling in calls about alprazolam to the NSW Poisons Information Centre just in the past two months,” he said.
“The packaging and tablets are cleverly copied to look like prescription pharmaceutical brands so we are urging people to only buy from registered Australian pharmacies.”
Professor Dawson said the counterfeit products were labelled with the brand names ‘Xanax’ or ‘Mylan’, which were not sold through pharmacies in Australia.
He said there were also reports of counterfeit versions of the Australian brand, ‘Kalma’ 2mg.
“If you have taken a tablet purchased online or from the street and are experiencing side effects, call Triple Zero immediately or seek urgent medical attention,” Professor Dawson said.
NSW Health said it had notified the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of the counterfeit medication and the Administration issued guidance to consumers on how to identify a counterfeit product.
It said that if the number under the barcode on the side of the label doesn’t match the ‘NDC’ number displayed on the front of the package at the top it could be a counterfeit.
“The counterfeit Alprazolam 2mg product does not include a QR code with the Lot number, Serial Number and Expiry beside it (located near the barcode on the label of the genuine product) and the counterfeit Kalma 2mg product does not include the Manufacturers logo (Mylan)” it said.
Further information can be accessed on the TGA website at this PS News link.
