In his new book, “Phake: The Deadly World of Falsified and Substandard Medicines,” Roger Bate explores the underground trade in illegal medicines that kills over 100,000 people per year and supplants billions of dollars of real products.

Knowing where all our ingredients come from is the first step toward improving drug quality.

Ineffective drugs take lives, waste money and make precious cures useless. Drugs have been recycled after their expiry date; they have been contaminated with fatal toxins; they have been made too weak or with no active ingredient at all.

With 100,000 patients dying every year from dangerous medicines, it is time to take concrete actions. Establishing a treaty against fake medicines should be the first step.

Yet another food scandal is gripping China--tons of melamine-contaminated milk products were seized from warehouses in Chongqing. The milk problem is the the tenth serious food scandal in just the past few years. It provides more evidence of the inability of China's officials, corporations, and consumers to prevent lethal production.

The U.S. is not immune to lethal failings in the quality of pharmaceutical drugs. With little realistic oversight, and more importantly, little ethos of business integrity in China, a major tragedy in the U.S. from a Chinese export is likely in the near future.

Leading economic and security experts will discuss the trade-offs between trade and security.

Counterfeit drugs have contaminated India's pharmaceutical supply, putting the entire Indian medical system at risk, and can only be stopped by a broader political effort.