Misc Counterfeit drugs : why do they even bother making them. avoid at all costs !!!!!

[Mr Dan Hardy]

Good morning

Counterfeit means - made to look and taste like the real thing,but not the real thing - basically.
They`re fakes, and for anybody that`s `really into their drugs`, they`re poorer than nothing at all, aren`t they.....
(an insult to the origonal / pure version)

Having bought and received 120 of these `Counterfeit valium pills` (unknowingly), I am wondering......
Why do they even bother making these stupid, worthless things at all,
Are they for people that want to look hard ???


:D%)8)




EDIT:

I edited the title and keywords to make it clear that what the origional poster was referring to was counterfeit drugs, not generic, as most people know that to be non name brand.

Counterfeit and fake work in this thread. Generic will continue to refer to non brand name but equivalent medication.

Speed King

 

[JessFR]

Because if you buy the legally in countries with strong regulations, they are cheaper and identical.

If it's legal with a prescription, in most of the first world, it is legally required that generics have the same active drug in them in the same quantity. Failure to do so would get the company a huge fine. I've yet to see any compelling evidence that generics are anything less than pharmacologically identical virtually all of the time in the first world.

But people believe whatever they like to believe, and obviously anything you by illegally is another matter entirely. Fakes and counterfeits are widespread.

 

[OntarioGuy]

They contain the same active ingeredient. Any difference in weight is probably negligible...I doubt I'd be able to tell the difference between 9.7 mgs of diazepam and 10 mgs.

 

[JessFR]

Well, there is actually a legal threshold. For example, 10mg valium, legally it can be off by something like 0.5% or something, I don't know the exact number but it doesn't have to be absolutely exact. But that is the case generic or not.

 

[BehindtheShadow]

I buy generic medication simply because of the cost factor and I have yet to have found any difference in quality.

My mom however always says they are different, she says they might have the same ingredients however its like baking a cake they don't always turn out the same.

 

[spacejunk]

I think OP is using the wrong term.
The UK - from what i've heard - is flooded with very real looking 'fake' pharmaceuticals.
presumably a lot of the fake valium and so on contain some kind of benzo or other downer - but it doesn't sound like they're actually generics.

The term "generic" in terms of pharmaceuticals usually means the non-brand name pills that are sold at pharmacies, like "diazepam" rather than brand name "Valium", or alprazolam rather than "Xanax".
"Ibuprofen" rather than "Nurofen" etc etc
If you are referring to black market fakes (as opposed to store bought medications) - then i totally agree.

Black market fake pills are dangerous because you have no idea what is in them or what dosage. There doesn't seem to be any quality control, but for many of them, i hear the packaging and pressed pills look very authentic, so much that people can't tell the difference.
As others said though, legit generics should be the same active ingredients as the brand name pharma drugs.
be careful out there.

 

[BehindtheShadow]

I think OP is using the wrong term.
The UK - from what i've heard - is flooded with very real looking 'fake' pharmaceuticals.
presumably a lot of the fake valium and so on contain some kind of benzo or other downer - but it doesn't sound like they're actually generics.

The term "generic" in terms of pharmaceuticals usually means the non-brand name pills that are sold at pharmacies, like "diazepam" rather than brand name "Valium", or alprazolam rather than "Xanax".
"Ibuprofen" rather than "Nurofen" etc etc
If you are referring to black market fakes (as opposed to store bought medications) - then i totally agree.

Black market fake pills are dangerous becausr you have no idea what is in them or what dosage. There doesn't seem to be any quality control, but for many of them, i hear the packaging and pressed pills look very authentic, so much that people can't tell the difference.
As others said though, legit generics should be the same active ingredients as the brand name pharma drugs.
be careful out there.

Ahh ok that makes sense

 

[CFC]

Yes, quite categorically OP means fake pills, not generics.

 

[tacodude]

I'm assuming this person bought them off the street rather than from a pharmacy unless they state otherwise

 

[shartito]

There are some impressive looking fakes out there.

If it can fool Prince, who was by all accounts an opioid connoisseur, into swallowing a bunch of street fentanyl, it can fool anyone.

I only buy things I know come from a pharmacy. It’s from people I know get prescriptions, and if it’s not directly from them, it’s from someone who’s seen them come out of a legit bottle.

Even playing it safe, there’s always the chance you can encounter some fake shit. And I have. Luckily the fakes I came across weren’t counterfeited very well and were easy to identify as suspicious.

But yeah I agree that Op is talking about fakes rather than true generics.

 

[musique]

I believe that the required percentage of active ingredient, legally has to only be 80% but many tests have shown actives as low as 60%

 

[Jabberwocky]

I believe that the required percentage of active ingredient, legally has to only be 80% but many tests have shown actives as low as 60%

I have heard this rumor before, but 99% of my personal experience does not support it. A few times it seems like the subjective effects of one or two generics was less potent than other generics or brand name formulations, but I am fairly convinced this has more to do with changes in my metabolism or other factors than the actual stuff in the pills.

A lot of people have preferred generics, and I think there is some truth to varied effects. How much of this is placebo effect and how much something more related to the actual substance in the medication is another matter though IMO.

 

[shartito]

The medical community believes in generics. They wouldn’t if they contained only 60% of the active ingredient. That would be a big news story, hard to hide.

I’ve read stories of manufacturers from India who tested really badly, not sure how true those are, and if they are true if there were any sanctions. Even those I’ve read are hard to find now, and I can’t even find the article I remember reading so maybe it was “fake news”.

But all doctors my family and I go to swear by generics. The only medication we don’t get generic is my wife’s synthroid. As that’s one med her doctor doesn’t want take take chances with being even 95% off. Other than that, it’s generic all the way.

But I’m just rambling now; because again, I don’t think that’s what OP is talking about.

 

[musique]

Either way, I recommend asking your pharmacist to see if they can get you the Ultra-Genric form, The QC is much more stringent and it would be hard to discriminate between this and brand name

 

[PerpetualAnhedonic]

Also a factor is that each and every manufacturer uses different binders and fillers in their drugs, which can affect how an individual reacts to and metabolizes certain substances....

-PA

 

[JessFR]

Also a factor is that each and every manufacturer uses different binders and fillers in their drugs, which can affect how an individual reacts to and metabolizes certain substances....

-PA

Do you have any evidence to support that? I'm not saying it's wrong, but it sure sounds wrong. The binders and fillers should be biologically inactive and have no impact of any significance.

Obviously I'm not talking about time release mechanisms, that's a different matter.

 

[PerpetualAnhedonic]

Do you have any evidence to support that? I'm not saying it's wrong, but it sure sounds wrong. The binders and fillers should be biologically inactive and have no impact of any significance.

Obviously I'm not talking about time release mechanisms, that's a different matter.

Let me see if I can dig some up tonight. But this is one of the biggest reasons most doctors (at least in the US) do name brand only on certain life saving medications, to my knowledge.... The binders and fillers are listed as inactive, but they are active to a small degree....anything and everything we put into our bodies has an effect on them and what's inside them, no matter how small or subjectively noticeable.

-PA

 

[JessFR]

I'd be curious to see the evidence when you have time to dig some up. I can't say I agree that EVERYTHING is active to some degree. At least in terms of using the word active in a way that has any real meaning in this context.

But we're not talking about everything we're talking about the stuff they use as binders and fillers in pills in specific combinations. If there are cases where it makes even a small difference I'd be interested to know more about it. But I'm not aware of any and it seems highly unlikely.

 

[Mafioso]

I think OP is using the wrong term.
The UK - from what i've heard - is flooded with very real looking 'fake' pharmaceuticals.
presumably a lot of the fake valium and so on contain some kind of benzo or other downer - but it doesn't sound like they're actually generics.

The term "generic" in terms of pharmaceuticals usually means the non-brand name pills that are sold at pharmacies, like "diazepam" rather than brand name "Valium", or alprazolam rather than "Xanax".
"Ibuprofen" rather than "Nurofen" etc etc
If you are referring to black market fakes (as opposed to store bought medications) - then i totally agree.

Black market fake pills are dangerous because you have no idea what is in them or what dosage. There doesn't seem to be any quality control, but for many of them, i hear the packaging and pressed pills look very authentic, so much that people can't tell the difference.
As others said though, legit generics should be the same active ingredients as the brand name pharma drugs.
be careful out there.

My thoughts exactly. I think when most people talk about generics being low quality they are talking about fakes bought on the street rather than a generic form received from a pharmacy. There are a ton a regulations for legal drugs and pharmaceutical companies are experts at synthesizing drugs. A non brand name usually just means that the patent is up and other companies are now producing it as well. Oxycodone, known by the brand name OxyContin or hydrocodone known by the brand name Vicodin are prime examples. OxyContin or Vicodin aren't chemicals, they are brand names.

People are pressing pills all over the world and passing them off as pharmaceutical grade. A lot of times it is the same people who are/were pressing ecstasy pills, using pill pressing machines and techniques. These pills can look nearly identical but may contain the same active ingredient in lower amounts, a completely different active ingredient(like RCs), or no active ingredient at all(duds).

"Fake Prescription Drugs are flooding the United States"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1173338/

 

[JessFR]

My thoughts exactly. I think when most people talk about generics being low quality they are talking about fakes bought on the street rather than a generic form received from a pharmacy. There are a ton a regulations for legal drugs and pharmaceutical companies are experts at synthesizing drugs. A non brand name usually just means that the patent is up and other companies are now producing it as well. Oxycodone, known by the brand name OxyContin or hydrocodone known by the brand name Vicodin are prime examples. OxyContin or Vicodin aren't chemicals, they are brand names.

People are pressing pills all over the world and passing them off as pharmaceutical grade. A lot of times it is the same people who are/were pressing ecstasy pills, using pill pressing machines and techniques. These pills can look nearly identical but may contain the same active ingredient in lower amounts, a completely different active ingredient(like RCs), or no active ingredient at all(duds).

"Fake Prescription Drugs are flooding the United States"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1173338/

I wouldn't be so sure. A lot of people don't know what they're really talking about. And a lot of people imagine all sorts of differences between otherwise identical drugs where chemistry and brand names are concerned.

People are just dumb, and totally ignorant of chemistry. I gave up trying explain shit to most people long ago. I just say nothing and occasionally make some smart ass sarcastic remark when I've let myself suffer in silence so long that I can't help but say something. Otherwise I'll eventually explode like a verbal bomb.