QR codes could be used to check if medicines are fake

In order to check circulation of counterfeit drugs and ensure traceability, top medicine brands will have to feature QR codes.

Around 300 top selling drugs will have to print QR codes on the 'primary' packaging labels in accordnace with the government's plans of launching 'track and trace' mechanism, a Times of India report cited sources as saying.

Popular medicines like antibiotics, pain-relief pills, cardiac and anti-allergics will come under the ambit of the new mechanism.


The move has been prompted by the surfeit of counterfeit medicines in the market and to check the menace the government wants drug companies to print these QR codes on packaging.

About 10% medical products in low- and middle-income countries are substandard or falsified, though these could be found in every region of the world, the Times of India report quoted from World Health Organization statistics.

“The implementation of the system will increase costs by 3-4%,” the report added an industry player as saying.