Soon, Smartphones can tell if your medicine is fake

               

Concerned that the pill you are popping is fake, but didn’t know who to ask? A solution could be on the way. Strips of commonly-used medicines such as Combiflam, Disprin and Crocin are likely to soon carry a unique barcode. Scan the barcode with your Smartphone, and your web browser will take you to a central database which would tell you if the medicine in your hand had in fact been shipped by the company.

                In a bid to create an ecosystem for online sales of medicines in India, the government is working on a detailed plan on bar-coding of drugs. The initiative also aims to counter spurious drugs. India already has bar-coding system for drugs that are meant for exports. This was launched in October last year.

However, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the apex drug regulation body under drug controller general of India (DCGI) GN Singh, plans to make bar-coding mandatory for all the drugs sold at retail in India. “Layout has been made and submitted for the final approvals. I am confident that the bar-coding would be made mandatory in the next six months to ensure patient safety and curb flow of flake drugs into the market,” GN Singh, told.

In 2012, the government introduced a plan to check genuine medicines by a way of texting unique number. However, the scheme failed to take off in volumes as many companies did not adhere.