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.

Roger Bate, author of the new book, “Phake: The Deadly World of Falsified and Substandard Medicines,” has found some incredibly realistic -- and deadly -- fake medicines. Which are real and which are phony? See if you can tell the difference.

Evidence from numerous studies shows that emerging markets have far more poor quality drugs than western markets. There are many reasons for this, but one reason, investigated in this paper, is the possibility that smaller, often privately-owned, pharmacies take greater risks with drug procurement than larger organizations, which are often franchises or major pharmacy chains.

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.

Background

About a third of the world’s population, concentrated in poorer regions of the world, may be infected with TB, which generally lies dormant until the carrier’s immunity is impaired by another disease (often HIV infection). Without treatment, about half of the patients with active TB will die. According to WHO...

The trade in inferior quality medicines kills innocent patients. Perhaps 15 percent of the global drug supply outside of advanced countries is counterfeit, rising in certain markets in parts of Africa and Asia to over 50 percent. But counterfeits are not the only low-quality drugs on the market.

Any efforts to improve public health by developing new medicines or by changing treatment policies will ultimately be pointless if the drugs patients actually take contain insufficient or incorrect ingredients.

While counterfeits must be combated, drugs that are legally but poorly produced, substandard medicines-the subject of today's briefing-tend to get a free pass, even when they kill.