Performance and image enhancing drugs (“PIED”) are increasingly available and easily accessible online and on the black market. A recent analysis analyzed 400 products from samples confiscated in Italy over a 2 year period. What was the percentage of substances that had a qualitative analysis performed that was different than the substance declared on the product label?
In 15% of counterfeit medicines, the qualitative analysis demonstrated the presence of a substance different than the one declared on the label. 10% of them were contaminated with drugs other than those on the label. (Odoardi S et al. An overview of performance and image enhancing drugs confiscated in Italy in the period 2017-2019. Clin Tox 2020; published online June 2020. doi: 10.1080/15563650.2020.1770277)