Counterfeit medicine or unauthorized health product: preserve evidence and report it
Check the authorization number without taking more, preserve packaging and seller details, obtain care if needed and submit a compliance complaint.
If you took the product and have serious symptoms, call 911 or poison control. Do not test a suspected substance yourself.
Stop and secure
Do not take more, keep the product out of reach and do not return it before documenting the file. A pharmacist can help identify an urgent substitute.
Check authorization
Search the DIN, NPN, DIN-HM, licence or device authorization in official databases. Professional packaging or a Canadian seller does not prove authorization.
Document the chain
Keep packaging, lot, receipt, website, advertisement, seller, shipping address, photos and messages. Record differences from a known authentic product.
Use the correct form
Health Canada accepts complaints about counterfeit, unauthorized, contaminated or mislabelled products. An adverse reaction may also require a separate clinical report.
Health product complaint reporting — Health Canada