Internet giants have bought Chinese copies • The Swedish Medicines Agency’s requirements and criticism
Fake animal medicines are sold illegally online by the Swedish companies Fyndiq and CDON.
The products can lead to Lyme disease and death in pets.
– It is very serious, says Martin Burman, senior supervisory investigator at the Medical Products Agency.
Some of the products are copies and completely ineffective – others are downright deadly for pets. The Swedish internet giants Fyndiq and CDON have plenty of products for sale that contain drugs that are illegal to sell.
“Veterinary medicines may not be sold on these platforms at all,” says Martin Burman at the Swedish Medicines Agency.
“Deadly toxic substances”
The authority – which also examines Amazon and Fruugo – has mainly found tick and flea collars that contain medicines that in Sweden can only be sold by pharmacies.
– Some insecticides can be overdosed and therefore dangerous, says Martin Burman.
The products have either been bought in by pharmacies from other countries or as Chinese copies. To the naked eye, they look real, but may in fact be an ineffective rubber collar – or incorrectly dosed.
– Counterfeits that do not contain any medicinal substances at all are almost more serious. Then one’s dog or cat can get various parasitic diseases and tick-borne diseases, says Martin Burman.
The companies are singled out – decision on fines
The falsified animal medicines have gone under the radar and the Swedish Medicines Agency has now made a decision against the large online platforms Fyndiq and CDON.
– They can be sentenced to a fine of SEK 200,000 for each time a drug is marketed on the marketplaces, says Martin Burman.
Cdon’s CEO Fredrik Norberg says that they have a good dialogue with the authority and that it is merchants who broke the company’s agreement and uploaded unauthorized products.
– We take product safety issues very seriously and fine/or suspend traders who commit this type of violation, he says.
In addition to the decision, the Swedish Medicines Agency expects the platforms themselves to introduce a system that can monitor illegal sales.
– Platforms simply have too little self-control over ads. That is what our decisions against Fyndiq and CDON are about. So we’ll see if similar decisions are made for other actors in the future, says Martin Burman.
TV4 Nyheterna has sought Fyndiq for a comment.