A SYSTEM to identify counterfeit medicines is to be rolled out in pharmacies across Germany as a stepping-stone to Europe-wide protection for patients against the danger of fake prescription drugs. Details of the pilot verification scheme were discussed at a workshop in Vienna last week. From July 2014, medicines at hundreds of German pharmacies will be checked against a novel Europe-wide database at the point of dispensing. Within years, predictions suggest, every pharmacy in Europe will have adopted the system -under development by a consortium of pharmacists, full-line wholesalers, drug manufacturers and parallel traders.
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