TempoLife › Funktionen › Pharmacies and out-of-hours cover › falsified-medicines
The barcode and the seal
What the pharmacist scans, why every prescription pack has a tamper seal, what you can check yourself, and what to do if a pack looks wrong.
| Kurz gesagt | Was es bedeutet |
|---|---|
| The rules | Directive 2011/62/EU and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/161 |
| In force since | 9 February 2019 across the EU and EEA |
| Two features | A unique identifier in a 2D code, and an anti-tampering device |
| What it cannot protect | Anything bought outside the legal supply chain |
Hier wird beschrieben, wie Apothekensysteme funktionieren. Es ist kein medizinischer Rat, keine Diagnose und kein Verzeichnis. Es enthält keine Apothekennamen, Adressen, Telefonnummern, Öffnungszeiten oder Preise, da diese schneller veralten, als eine Seite erneut veröffentlicht werden kann – klären Sie alles, was zeitkritisch ist, mit der Apotheke selbst ab. Nichts hier stellt einen Grund dar, mit der Einnahme eines Arzneimittels zu beginnen, es abzusetzen oder es zu ändern: Das gehört Ihrem verschreibenden Arzt, und der Apotheker an der Kasse ist in der Zwischenzeit der Fachmann, der am schnellsten nachfragt.
The problem it was built for
Falsified medicines — packs that misrepresent their identity, their history or their source — reached the legal European supply chain often enough that the EU legislated. Directive 2011/62/EU amended the medicines code to add safety features to packs, and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/161 specified them in detail. The system became mandatory across the EU and EEA on 9 February 2019, which is why every prescription pack you have handled since then carries a square dot-matrix code and a seal over the flap. It is one of the largest verification systems in European retail, and almost none of the people it protects have noticed it exists.
The two features
The first is a unique identifier: a serial number, product code, batch and expiry encoded in a 2D data-matrix code printed on the carton. It is unique to that individual pack, not to the product — two boxes of the same medicine carry different numbers. The second is an anti-tampering device: a seal, a glued flap or an equivalent, whose purpose is to make it visible if the carton has been opened. Together they answer two different questions: is this pack the one the manufacturer says it is, and has anyone been inside it since.
What the scan actually does
When a manufacturer packs a medicine, the unique identifier is uploaded to a European repository system and routed to the national repository of each country it may be sold in. When the pharmacy dispenses the pack, it scans the code, the system checks that this identifier exists and is still active, and the pack is decommissioned — marked as supplied. That is what makes a duplicate detectable: a second pack presenting the same identifier raises an alert, because the first one has already been dispensed. Wholesalers verify at defined points along the way. The system is operated by a European organisation together with national medicines verification organisations in each country.
What you can check yourself
Four things, none of which require equipment. The seal or glued flap should be intact — a carton that opens without resistance, or shows glue residue and re-sticking, is a reason to ask. The batch number and expiry date printed on the outer carton should match those on the blister or bottle inside. The leaflet should be in the language you would expect for the country of purchase, printed to a proper standard, with correct spelling of the medicine and the manufacturer. And the tablets should look and smell as they always have — an unexpected change in colour, marking, size or odour on a repeat is worth a question, even though a legitimate substitution also changes all of those, which is precisely why you ask rather than guess.
If something looks wrong
Do not take it. Do not throw it away either, because the pack is the evidence. Take it back to the pharmacy that supplied it, with the receipt if you have one, and say what looked wrong. Pharmacies have a route into the national medicines agency for exactly this and the agency will want the pack, not a description. If it arrived by post from a seller you found online, the same applies with more urgency, and the honest expectation is that a genuinely illegal seller will not help you — see buying medicine online for the check that prevents this in the first place.
The limit of the system
The safety features exist only inside the legal supply chain. A pack bought from an unregistered website was never in a national repository, so there is nothing to verify against and a printed code proves nothing — codes can be copied, which is why a duplicate raises an alert only when the legitimate pack passes through a real pharmacy. The system also does not extend to most non-prescription packs, which are outside its scope. What it does deliver is a strong guarantee about the specific thing most people worry about: the prescription pack handed over the counter in an EU or EEA pharmacy has been verified, individually, at the moment it was dispensed.
Quellen:Directive 2011/62/EU — the falsified medicines directive · Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/161 — safety features on medicine packs · European Medicines Verification Organisation · European Medicines Agency· überprüft2026-09-08
Häufige Fragen
What is the square barcode on my medicine box?
A 2D data-matrix code carrying a unique identifier for that individual pack — serial number, product code, batch and expiry. The pharmacy scans it, the national repository confirms it is genuine and still active, and the pack is marked as dispensed.
Why is there a seal on the flap?
It is the anti-tampering device required alongside the unique identifier. Its purpose is to make it visible if the carton has been opened between the factory and you. A carton that opens without resistance is a reason to ask at the pharmacy.
When did this start?
The safety features became mandatory across the EU and EEA on 9 February 2019, under Directive 2011/62/EU and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/161. Packs manufactured before that date could still be sold through their shelf life.
What should I do if I think a pack is fake?
Do not take it and do not throw it away — the pack is the evidence. Take it back to the pharmacy that supplied it, with the receipt if you have one. They have a route into the national medicines agency, which will want the physical pack.
Die anderen Regeln
Ich suche nach einem, der gerade geöffnet ist
Die Suchreihenfolge, die funktioniert, warum die Karte häufiger falsch ist als das Register, wie man eine Öffnungsstundenzeichenfolge liest und was zu tun ist, wenn nichts geöffnet ist.
Nachts, an Wochenenden und Feiertagen
Wer entscheidet darüber, dass eine Apotheke geöffnet bleibt, wie ein Dienstplan veröffentlicht wird, an welchen Feiertagen alles geschlossen ist und wie man ein Wiederholungsrezept rund um ein langes Wochenende plant.
Was ein Apotheker ohne Arzt tun kann
Die drei rechtlichen Bereiche, was ein Apotheker eigentlich zu verstehen hat, die Fragen, die er stellen wird und warum, und der Punkt, an dem die Antwort eher ein Arzt als ein Produkt ist.
Ihnen ist ein Medikament ausgegangen
Welche Situationen sind dringend und nicht unangenehm, wie kommt es in jedem Land zu einer erneuten Wiederholung, was kann eine Apotheke nach eigenem Ermessen tun und wie kann man verhindern, dass es noch einmal passiert?
Digitale Rezepte an der Kasse
Was ein nationaler Rezeptladen ist, wie Sie sich ausweisen, wie Sie für jemand anderen einsammeln, was Sie selbst sehen können und wo das System an der Grenze stoppt.
Verwendung eines Rezepts in einem anderen Land
Die EU-Vorschriften, die ein Rezept tragbar machen, die Elemente, die es enthalten muss, die Medikamente, für die eine Reisebescheinigung erforderlich ist und was mit einer Europäischen Krankenversicherungskarte bezahlt wird und was nicht.
Alle22ApothekenseitenWechselwirkungen zwischen Arzneimitteln
Die Antwort auf „Was nehmen Sie?“
TempoLife ist ein kostenloser Gesundheitsgewohnheits-Tracker mit Notizen und Medikamentenprotokoll, sodass die Details, nach denen ein Apotheker oder ein Arzt außerhalb der Geschäftszeiten fragt, bereits aufgeschrieben und nicht gespeichert werden müssen.