Simple_Guy
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In 2010, Pakistan's Interior Minister at the time, Rehman Malik, was so alarmed that he gave a speech to the National Assembly, calling for action in his country, saying that between 45-50% of Pakistani drugs were fake or of substandard quality.
The Pakistani Pharmacist Association says that there are approximately 4,000 licensed pharmacies in Pakistan, but also estimates that are as many as 100,000 other illegal merchants selling medications. "The packaging is made to look beautiful and attractive so that the patient never comes to know what's inside it," says Farmann Abbass, a Pakistani pharmacist.
Most of the fake medicine made in Pakistan is sold to Pakistanis, although some of the counterfeits end up being sold online to countries in Europe and the U.S. In Pakistan, in 2012, in one incident alone, 120 people died after taking counterfeit heart medicine.
Video obtained by CNN shows workers frenetically grinding powder in old mortar and pestles in an alleyway, not far from the market. A man wearing a bandana over his face -- who CNN has agreed not to identify -- tells the camera, "We make everything here, whatever is in high demand in the market place."
The dusty, dirty operation moves swiftly as the man continues his show and tell. "In all of these capsules and bottles we put the same ingredients. And all of the syrup is the same syrup. Only the color is different."
Fake medicines industry of Pakistan
The Pakistani Pharmacist Association says that there are approximately 4,000 licensed pharmacies in Pakistan, but also estimates that are as many as 100,000 other illegal merchants selling medications. "The packaging is made to look beautiful and attractive so that the patient never comes to know what's inside it," says Farmann Abbass, a Pakistani pharmacist.
Most of the fake medicine made in Pakistan is sold to Pakistanis, although some of the counterfeits end up being sold online to countries in Europe and the U.S. In Pakistan, in 2012, in one incident alone, 120 people died after taking counterfeit heart medicine.
Video obtained by CNN shows workers frenetically grinding powder in old mortar and pestles in an alleyway, not far from the market. A man wearing a bandana over his face -- who CNN has agreed not to identify -- tells the camera, "We make everything here, whatever is in high demand in the market place."
The dusty, dirty operation moves swiftly as the man continues his show and tell. "In all of these capsules and bottles we put the same ingredients. And all of the syrup is the same syrup. Only the color is different."
Fake medicines industry of Pakistan
