Drug Shortages and Counterfeits: A Threat to Public Health

The availability of healthcare products is the cornerstone of any healthcare policy. Yet, for several years now, drug shortages and counterfeiting have become two sides of the same coin, creating an unprecedented global health crisis. As supply chain pressures mount, cybercrime networks are exploiting patients’ vulnerability, turning their anxiety over unavailability into a criminal business opportunity.

Understanding the Causes of Drug Shortages

Drug shortages are not random events, but rather the result of multifactorial chains of causality. Among the structural causes are:

Short-term-focused business models: Procurement practices, which are too often focused on immediate economic performance, have undermined the resilience of the value chain.

Offshored production and a complex supply chain: Reliance on distant production sites and pressure on raw materials create critical points of failure.

Fragmentation of the European market: Although the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is attempting to coordinate responses, the market remains fragmented. Price disparities, varying package sizes, and unilateral national measures (such as preventive stockpiling by certain countries) hinder the free movement of medicines and exacerbate supply bottlenecks.

A Critical Situation in 2025 and 2026

France, like its European neighbors, is experiencing ongoing shortages. In 2025, the field of psychiatry was particularly hard hit, with at least 14 essential medications reported to be in short supply or out of stock, including indispensable psychotropic drugs such as lithium, which is considered the standard treatment for bipolar disorder.

Patients are facing repeated shortages of antidepressants, anxiolytics, and antipsychotics (such as quetiapine or injectable olanzapine), a situation described by healthcare professionals as “untenable.” Across Europe, this trend also affects antibiotics and pain relievers, for which supply shortages have reached record levels in recent months, jeopardizing the continuity of care for thousands of patients.

Opportunities for Criminal Networks

There is a direct link between drug shortages and counterfeiting. When a patient, desperate to find their medication, turns to the internet to order it, they fall prey to cybercriminals.

Illegal online pharmacies—estimated to number nearly 40,000—are flooding the web with enticing offers promising hard-to-find medications. By 2026, these networks had turned their operations into an industrial-scale business:

Exploiting a crisis: They specifically target out-of-stock products to meet captive demand.

Maximum health risk: Adulterated products do not meet any quality control standards. They are often ineffective, underdosed, or, even more seriously, contain toxic substances.

A massive global trade: The WHO estimates that 10% of the global trade in medicines consists of counterfeit products, generating profits in the tens of billions of dollars at the direct expense of patients' health.

The Absolute Need for Vigilance: How to Protect Your Treatment

Given the rise in fraudulent websites, caution is advised. Online purchases should only be made on officially authorized websites that are affiliated with a brick-and-mortar pharmacy and display the official European logo, which links to the list of online pharmacies approved by the National Order of Pharmacists.

However, there is sometimes room for doubt. If you suspect an anomaly—such as a difference in appearance or taste—or if the treatment’s effectiveness seems unusual, it is crucial not to remain in the dark. Seeking analytical expertise is the only reliable solution.

If you have any doubts about the origin or authenticity of a medication—especially after purchasing it from a platform whose legitimacy is uncertain—the safest course of action is to fill out the information form and send a sample of the medication to the laboratory. Experts in analytical pharmacy, using techniques such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-UV), are the only ones capable of verifying the presence and exact dosage of the active ingredient, thereby protecting your health and helping to combat illicit networks.

In short, shortages should not be used as an excuse to abandon safety measures. Collective vigilance, backed by rigorous inspections, remains our best weapon against the proliferation of counterfeit medicines.