Getting Sick from Fake Medicines: How to Spot the Signs

Every year, the counterfeit pharmaceutical market generates up to $400 billion — dwarfing the global street drug trade. But the danger isn't just financial. Fake medicines may contain no active ingredients, toxic contaminants, or unregulated chemicals — and most people have no idea they're taking them. In this episode of The Index, we speak with Oksana Pyzik, Associate Professor at UCL School of Pharmacy and founder of its Fight the Fakes Collaborating Centre, about the growing threat of counterfeit pharmaceuticals: who's buying them, who's producing them, and why criminal networks are increasingly choosing fake medicines over street drugs.