New Measures to Report Medicine Disappearances

According to a press release from EDQM, Strasbourg, dated 04 July 2024, the Recommendation CM/Rec(2024)3 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on reporting of disappearances of medicinal products for human and veterinary use from the legal supply chain was adopted by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers on 10 April 2024.

"The recommendation calls for member states to create and deploy suitable frameworks and systems for reporting, information sharing, and data collection, preferably under the guidance of the national competent authority for medicines. The recommendation further emphasizes the need for cooperation: addressing and preventing disappearances of medicines cannot be successful if not addressed in cooperation with law enforcement authorities and other stakeholders."

Background

In the past decade, Europe has witnessed numerous cases where medicines have disappeared from the legal supply chain, been tampered with, and reintroduced, posing significant risks to public health. These incidents often go unreported to health regulatory authorities because theft is considered a criminal matter and reported only to law enforcement. Fragmented reporting and lack of centralized data collection have led to an underestimation of the problem's scale.

For more details, please see the EDQM press release and Recommendation CM/Rec(2024)3.