BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacoepidemiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1654822
Perception of falsified and counterfeit medicines among adults living in Mexico City and the metropolitan area: An underappreciated health risk
Provisionally accepted
Jessica Citlalli Celaya Pérez1Tania Ibargüengoitia Larios1Maria De los Angeles Frias Fernández2
Manuel Abraham Gómez Martínez3Kenneth Rubio Carrasco1,4Raúl Lugo Villegas1
Arely Vergara-Castañeda5*- 1Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad La Salle México, Mexico City, Ciudad de México, Mexico
- 2Programa Jóvenes a la Investigación en Matemáticas y Ciencias Experimentales. Escuela Nacional Colegio de Ciencias y Humanidades plantel Azcapotzalco, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico
- 3Departamento de Salud Pública. Facultad de Medicina. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, CDMX, Mexico
- 4Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico Facultad de Quimica, Mexico City, Mexico
- 5Vicerrectoría de Investigación, Universidad La Salle, Mexico City, Mexico
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Falsified and counterfeit medicines represent a growing global public health concern and straddles business implications, and their proliferation has been intensified worldwide. In addition, a low awareness of the real implications of their nature and the possible impact on their health was identified, suggesting that the falsified and counterfeit medicines market is a substantial and understudied issue among Mexican population. An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out to validate and to assess the perception of a group of residents of Mexico City and the metropolitan area regarding the problem of falsified drugs and the risks they entail, as well as the purchase of medicines at unauthorized points of sale. In addition, variables associated with buying or not buying at these points of sale were identified. The results suggest that even in a sample of mainly young adults, the potential exposition to collateral effects related to the consumption of falsified or counterfeit medicines is high. Although participants recognized these medicines are not safe, they are not familiar with the efforts or information of the corresponding authority to warn them of this problem. Also, a low awareness of the real implications of their nature and the possible impact on their heath was identified, suggesting that the falsified and counterfeit medicines market is a substantial and understudied issue among Mexican population.
Keywords: falsified drugs, health risk, adults, Public Health, pharmacoepidemiology - epidemiology
Received: 27 Jun 2025; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Citlalli Celaya Pérez, Larios, Frias Fernández, Gómez Martínez, Rubio Carrasco, Lugo Villegas and Vergara-Castañeda. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Arely Vergara-Castañeda, Vicerrectoría de Investigación, Universidad La Salle, Mexico City, Mexico
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