--- description: Rat poison, wall paint, antifreeze, paint thinner and a few other ingredients that have slipped into the $75 billion a year market for counterfeit pills title: 5 Poison-Laced Pills to Contemplate on World Anti-Counterfeiting Day image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e5933f972cf7666/69869663f983e7203c04e485/163764786.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Graphic of Counterfeit, Poison-Laced Pills Is Horrifying  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 5, 2014 5:31 PM CUT  This picture taken on March 14 shows health workers preparing to destroy fake medicines seized in Beijing in recent months. This picture taken on March 14 shows health workers preparing to destroy fake medicines seized in Beijing in recent months.STR—AFP/Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 5, 2014 5:31 PM CUT Today the world celebrates Anti-Counterfeiting Day, and by world, we mean a little-known [coalition](http://www.gacg.org/Member "undefined") of regulators and lawyers celebrating their quiet battle against counterfeit drug makers. Here’s a reason for the non-observant to join the festivities: Some [$75 billion worth](http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1929147,00.html "undefined") of counterfeit drugs hit the global market each year. These pills often have brand names etched on the outside and chemical imbalances on the inside that are at best, ineffective, and at worst, toxic. Just how toxic? The Partnership for Safe Medicines, a not-for-profit association of pharmaceutical organizations, has a [graphic](http://www.safemedicines.org/2012/03/no-drugs-at-all-.html "undefined") just in time for the holidays. It shows the full sweep of contaminants that heath officials have discovered in fake pills over the years.  Uranium, of course, is a worst case scenario. Actual contamination rates are hard to measure in an industry that dodges scrutiny for a living. A rough survey by the World Health Organization [found](http://www.who.int/medicines/services/counterfeit/overview/en/ "undefined") that 73% of counterfeit medications contained either the wrong ingredient, the wrong dosage, or no active ingredient, while 8% were laced with impurities and contaminants. Only 15% contained the right dose and the right ingredient. Some sobering figures to contemplate on World Anti—Counterfeit Day, or any day an unaccredited website offers pills at rock-bottom prices. **MORE:** _The Hidden War: Corporations Fight Against Counterfeiting_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2826641/poison-pills/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2826641/poison-pills/"},"headline":"This Graphic of Counterfeit, Poison-Laced Pills Is Horrifying","datePublished":"2014-06-05T17:31:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:08:18.423Z","description":"Rat poison, wall paint, antifreeze, paint thinner and a few other ingredients that have slipped into the $75 billion a year market for counterfeit pills","url":"https://time.com/2826641/poison-pills/","keywords":["Prescription","Poison","medication","Toxic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e5933f972cf7666/69869663f983e7203c04e485/163764786.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e5933f972cf7666/69869663f983e7203c04e485/163764786.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CHINA-HEALTH-INTERNET-PHARMA","caption":"CHINA-HEALTH-INTERNET-PHARMA","creditText":"STR—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2826641/poison-pills/","name":"This Graphic of Counterfeit, Poison-Laced Pills Is Horrifying"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Hidden War: Corporations Fight Against Counterfeiting","description":"Corporations are fighting an uphill battle against counterfeiting. Everything from handbags to prescription pharmaceuticals are being counterfeit. This is not just an issue of economics, but also of public saftey.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/wb5eRC17/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-06-03T14:54:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wb5eRC17.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/2826641/poison-pills/","duration":"PT4M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/2826641/poison-pills/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```