An informal breakfast with experts on falsified medicines took place

A breakfast of experts on falsified medicines with media representatives was held on Thursday, November 8, 2018, in the premises of the Kaiserštejnský palace in Malostranské Square on the forthcoming launch of a pan-European system for protection against falsified medicines. Between topics discussed during the meeting could be found for example, what kind of counterfeits have been seen in the EU and what is the situation elsewhere in the world. Immediate experience with counterfeit medicines was described by writer Hana Hindráková, author of the book Death Business. At the same time, the new legislation of the European Union and the system of medicines verification, which starts in a 3 months, were introduced. The status of the amendment to the Pharmaceuticals Act has been presented as well as the changes affecting patients and pharmacist in the future.

Our invitation was accepted by following guests:

• MUDr. Miloslav Janulík, Member of Parliament, vice-chairman of the Health Committee and reporter on the amendment to the Pharmaceuticals Act
• Mgr. Jakub Dvořáček, MHA, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Organization for the Medicines Verification (NOOL) and Executive Director of the Innovative Pharmaceutical Industry Association (AIFP)
• Hana Hindráková, a writer who wrote the book Death Business 
• PharmDr. Lubomír Chudoba, President of the Czech Pharmacy Chamber (ČLnK)
• PharmDr. Martin Šimíček, pharmacist of the Faculty Hospital at St. Anne in Brno, Scientific Secretary of the Department of Hospital Pharmacists of the Czech Pharmaceutical Society of CzMA JEP
• Mgr. Irena Storová, MHA, Director of the State Institute for Drug Control (SÚKL)

The individual interviews with invited experts followed after the official part of the discussions. You can find a press release from the meeting and the presented materials here (all in Czech language):