THE STUDY by Bate and colleagues in this issue of the Journal, showing that substandard anti-tuberculosis drugs are common in low-income countries, is a useful message for everyone involved in the management of tuberculosis.However, it is important to remember that this is only one part of the much larger problem of falsified and substandard medical products. The newcomer to this topic would be forgiven for imagining that the problem of quality control had been solved decades ago. In industrialized countries (with the exception of unregulated internet pharmacies), this is generally true. Unfortunately, in developing regions, where many countries have no functioning regulatory mechanisms at all, poor quality medicines remain a very real concern.
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