This year’s edition of the “Patient Safety through Safe Medicines” conference, now in its 6th year, which was organized, as always, by OSMR in partnership with the National Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices of Romania (ANMDMR), took place on March 11^th, 2025.

The main focus of this edition was the study titled “Attitudes of the Romanian Population Towards Falsified Medicines“, coordinated by Bogdan Voicu, sociologist and senior researcher at the Institute for Quality of Life Research of the Romanian Academy. The study is based on the results of a nationally representative survey, conducted on a sample of 1,200 respondents, with a margin of error of ±2.83%.

Key Findings of the Study:

72% of Romanians trust that authorized pharmacies provide authentic medicines.
However, 28% believe that falsified medicines may still appear even in authorized pharmacies.
Alarmingly, 7% of respondents think that falsified medicines have fewer side effects than the authentic ones, while 12% believe they are even more effective than original medicines.
Many respondents expect to frequently find falsified medicines on online pharmacies (57%), other online websites (70%), and street vendors (74%).

“The public’s trust in authorized pharmacies as providers of authentic medicines is a positive signal, validating the work of OSMR, which plays a key role in managing the medicines verification system. However, we also see a segment of the population that remains skeptical. It is our duty to support the relevant authorities in improving public communication on this critical issue,” Laurențiu Mihai, OSMR General Manager.

The event was attended by high-level decision-makers in the healthcare sector, including: Alexandru Rafila – Minister of Health; the President of the National Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices of Romania (ANMDMR) – Răzvan Prisada; OSMR President – Dan Zaharescu; the Vide-President of the European Parliament – Victor Negrescu (via video message); WHO Representative in Romania – Caroline Clarinval, Matus Ferech – DG SANTE, European Commission, Kai Mjaanes – EMVO General Manager; Dmytro Lurye – Project Manager at Medicines for Europe; Davide D’Auria – Director of the Economic Crime Investigation Unit, Europol; Marius Ștefură – Police Commissioner, Directorate of Economic Crime Investigation and Radu Gănescu – President of the Coalition of Patients’ Organisations with Chronic Diseases in Romania (COPAC). They debated the study’s findings and shared their professional insights and experiences regarding falsified medicines.