Reliable identification of counterfeit medicine using camera equipped mobile phones

The sale of counterfeit medicine is a continuously growing global problem costing billions of dollars and effecting hundreds of thousands of precious human lives annually. Consumers of medicine have no reliable and simple way of distinguishing genuine medicine from counterfeit. In this paper we analyzed existing techniques of counterfeit medicine identification on the bases of usability, security and scalability. Different shortcomings and security weaknesses of these reviewed solutions are identified. Based on these observations, a set of requirements is determined. These requirements address different aspects of a complete solution, such as usability by end users, security of the system against various types of attacks and scalability of the solution. We then propose a framework for reliably ensuring the fidelity of purchased medicine. The proposed framework is simple to use for consumers and does not require specialized equipment, training or technology. The proposed framework will enable the consumers to verify the legitimateness of their purchased medication by using their mobile phones. Data matrix is used to make the verification code machine readable.