Health security

Patients fooled by fake drugs made with poison and brick dust

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that as many as one million people die every year worldwide from ingesting counterfeit medications.

In Pakistan, in 2012, in one incident alone, 120 people died after taking counterfeit heart medicine.

...John Clark, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), says analysis of fake drugs seized in the U.S. has shown traces of pesticides, rat poison, brick dust and paint, among other ingredients.

Clark, now Chief Security Officer and Vice President of Global Security for Pfizer pharmaceuticals, says the counterfeiters aren't necessarily intending to poison people. He says they're looking for the cheapest binding agents available to maximize their profits.