Roger Bate, author of the new book, “Phake: The Deadly World of Falsified and Substandard Medicines,” has found some incredibly realistic -- and deadly -- fake medicines. Which are real and which are phony? See if you can tell the difference.

1. “Phake: The deadly world of falsified and substandard medicines”

2. Just four years ago, 149
Americans died after using
contaminated heparin, a blood-
thinning drug. The discovery of
the fake cancer drug Avastin in
three U.S. states in March and
April revived concerns over drug
safety in America. Since 80
percent of American medicines
contain foreign ingredients, it is
critical to understand where
dangerous medicines come from
and how they traverse the globe.
After seven years of
investigations, Roger Bate, author
of the new book, “Phake: The
Deadly World of Falsified and
Substandard Medicines,” has
found some incredibly realistic
fakes. Which are real and which
are phony? See if you can tell the
difference.

3. Spot the fake
Thaitanzunate artesunate
Can you figure out which box of this anti-
malarial drug is real and which is fake?

4. Thaitanzunate artesunate
If you said yes,
you’re wrong.
There are no
distinctive marks to
tell real from fake.
The only way to
know is to test the
drug itself with lab
equipment.
“Phake: The deadly world of falsified and
substandard medicines”

5. Spot the fake
Plavix
Heart medication taken by millions worldwide.

6. Plavix
Plavix pills are
engraved with the
number ‘75’ on
them. The fake one,
with shallower
indentation and a
sharper edge, is on
the left. The real
one, which has
deeper indentation,
is on the right.
“Phake: The deadly world of falsified and
substandard medicines”

7. Spot the fake
What could be wrong with either of these boxes of Artesunat, an anti-malarial drug?

8. Artesunat
It’s hard to tell in person
between a real and fake
hologram. But when
photographed, the real
hologram, like the one on the
bottom, is much more colorful
and readable.
“Phake: The deadly world of falsified and
substandard medicines”

9. Spot the fake
Ciprofloxacin
Ciprofloxacin is a commonly used antibiotic.

10. Ciprofloxacin
In this case, phony
Cipro can only be
distinguished by
the lack of a
hologram on the
back side of the
box, as noted on
the bottom right.
“Phake: The deadly world of falsified
and substandard medicines”

11. Spot the fake
Artefan
Compare the box of Artefan, an antimalarial drug, on the left against the one on the
right. Which is real?

12. Artefan
A cruel trick. There
is no way to know
the difference
between these two
boxes without
testing the pills
inside.
“Phake: The deadly world of falsified
and substandard medicines”

13. Spot the fake
Plavix
Plavix is produced by Bristol-Meyers Squibb and
Sanofi Pharmaceuticals. Do you know which
directions are accurate?

14. Plavix
There are actually
two clues here to
the real drug label.
Notice the
difference in
coloring and accents
in the text. The
darker blue label
above with accented
vowels is real. The
lighter blue without
the accents is fake.
“Phake: The deadly world of falsified and
substandard medicines”

15. Learn more
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. “Phake” is a fascinating
firsthand account of this illegal
industry — unearthing a complex
web of criminal traders and
corrupt officials — and an incisive
academic and policy analysis with
practical implications.