The market for counterfeit products is barely understood. Not all counterfeiting is deceptive, so what is the best policy to deal with that reality?

Americans should be permitted to buy medicines online for personal use; there are many sites providing good quality medicines at low prices, and importation for personal use is not likely to undermine the pharmaceutical market.

Medicines have to pass through a rigorous series of clinical trials to prove their efficacy and safety; by bypassing systems that are in place, the manufacturers of counterfeit medicines are not only illegally profiting from others' endeavors--they are also putting patients' lives at risk.

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.

Here is another good news/bad news column about the 112th Congress.

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

China, a major link in the world's pharmaceutical supply chain, is taking steps and forming international partnerships to improve drug safety and combat drug counterfeiting.