What is FMD?
The European Union Falsified Medicines Directive (2011/62/EU), commonly referred to as FMD, has been introduced to address the issue of falsified medicines reaching the medicines supply chain.
Community pharmacy contractors, along with other partners in the EU/UK medicines supply chain, are required to comply with the FMD legislation by 9th February 2019.
When the UK exits the European Union in March 2019 the Withdrawal Bill will convert existing EU law into UK law. This will mean that the regulations under the FMD will continue to apply after Brexit unless the regulations are specifically revoked.
FMD will essentially be composed of separate components including the medicines verification systems and product security features; these will be discussed further in this article.
Why has FMD been introduced?
FMD is the European response to the growing issue of falsified medicines.
The overall aim of the Falsified Medicines Directive is to ensure a secure supply chain whereby pharmacies across Europe can ensure dispensed medicines are genuine before issuing them to the patient.