BackgroundCounterfeit and unapproved medicines are inherently dangerous and can cause patient injury due to ineffectiveness, chemical or biological contamination, or wrong dosage. Growth of the counterfeit medical market in developed countries is mainly attributable to life-style drugs, which are used in the treatment of non-life-threatening and non-painful conditions, such as slimming pills, cosmetic-related pharmaceuticals, and drugs for sexual enhancement. One of the main tasks of health authorities is to identify the exact active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in confiscated drugs, because wrong API compounds, wrong concentrations, and/or the presence of chemical contaminants are the main risks associated with counterfeit medicines. Serious danger may also arise from microbiological contamination. We therefore performed a market surveillance study focused on the microbial burden in counterfeit and unapproved medicines.MethodsCounterfeit and unapproved medicines confiscated in Canada and Austria and controls from the legal market were examined for microbial contaminations according to the US and European pharmacopoeia guidelines. The microbiological load of illegal and legitimate samples was statistically compared with the Wilcoxon rank-sum test.ResultsMicrobial cultivable contaminations in counterfeit and unapproved phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors were significantly higher than in products from the legal medicines market (p < 0.0001). Contamination levels exceeding the USP and EP limits were seen in 23% of the tested illegal samples in Canada. Additionally, microbiological contaminations above the pharmacopoeial limits were detected in an anabolic steroid and an herbal medicinal product in Austria (6% of illegal products tested).ConclusionsOur results show that counterfeit and unapproved pharmaceuticals are not manufactured under the same hygienic conditions as legitimate products. The microbiological contamination of illegal medicinal products often exceeds USP and EP limits, representing a potential threat to consumer health.

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Ein rationelles Darstellungsverfahren fur die trans-fi-Pyridazinylpropenale 2a, 2b, gekennzeichnet durch Witrig-Reaktion von Formylpyridazinen mit Formylmethylentriphenylphosphoran, wird in Vorschlag gebracht. Syntheses and Reactions of Pyridazine Derivatives, XIV Syntheses of Vinylogous PyridazinecarboxaldehydesThe trans-fJ-pyridazinylpropenals h , Z b are prepared in high yield by reacting formylpyridazines with (formylmethy1ene)triphenylphosphorane. **) Meinem verehrten Lehrer, Herrn Prof. Dr. F. Viebock, mit herzlichen Wiinschen zum 80. Geburtstag gewidmet.

4‐Pyridazoin‐eyanhydrin liefert mit Aeetanhydrid das 1,4‐Dihydropyridazin‐Derivat 2a. Die Strukturen von 2a und dem Pyridin‐Analogon 2b werden spektroskopisch gesichert. Bei Chromatographie auf Kieselgel, gefolgt von Elution mit Methanol reagiert 2a zum Pyridazin‐4‐carbonsäuremethylester, 2b liefert hingegen neben Isonicotinsäuremethylester 4‐Pyridymethyl acetat. Die Mechanismen dieser ungewöhnlichen Reaktionen werden diskutiert.