Vital chemotherapy and cancer medicines routinely fail quality tests worldwide. Substandard and falsified (aka fake) cancer medicines are one of the greatest threats to cancer care globally, undermining patient trust in legitimate treatments, the integrity of healthcare systems, and hard-won progress against cancer.
We believe knowledge saves lives and ensures no cancer patient is deprived of their right to legitimate and safe medicines. This campaign empowers physicians, pharmacists, and nurses, as well as patients, through targeted education, practical tools, and active engagement to recognize risks, report suspicious products, and strengthen vigilance across the cancer supply chain.
Fake cancer medicines — also called substandard or falsified medicines — are drugs that are poor-quality, incorrectly made, or deliberately misrepresented. They may contain the wrong ingredients, too little of the real drug, or toxic substances. Fake cancer medicines include pill and intravenous therapies.
Fake treatments put patients’ lives at risk by delaying effective care and causing dangerous side effects.
As cancer medicine shortages and high costs push more people to buy from unregulated online pharmacies, fake cancer medicines aren’t rare, and they’re not just a problem for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Today substandard and falsified cancer medicines are found in 100 countries, including in high-income countries.
Estimates may be even higher for substandard and falsified cancer medicines. In Africa, 1 in 6 cancer medicines were found to be substandard in one study.
At best, they delay access to real treatments and let cancer progress. At worst, adverse events, organ failure or death. While mortality estimates for cancer meds are unknown, substandard and falsified meds across all categories kill 500,000 in Africa each year.
P. Precaution before purchasing.
I. Inspect the packaging.
E. Examine the medicine’s appearance.
S. Speak up and report to relevant authorities when suspicious.
Maxine Blounter, United States
A hard-working businesswoman, Maxine didn’t let cancer diagnosis stop her from living an active lifestyle. With the help of her anemia medicine Procrit, she maintained some of her old energy after starting chemotherapy. One day, the medicine stopped working and the Procrit she was using was found to be falsified. Anemia allowed her cancer to progress, ultimately resulting in her death. In her final months, Maxine described how fearful she became, completely losing trust in the medical system: “You have faith in your pharmacy and faith in the medicine, faith in the packaging and the people doing the buying that they know what they’re doing. Now, whenever I get my medication I wonder where it’s coming from. But what can I do? I need it. I have to have it. And I’m scared of it, every time.”
Betty Hunter, United States
Described as a vivacious 76-year-old Arizona grandmother with lung cancer, Betty was never the same again after doctors unknowingly injected her with fake Avastin in 2011. Her health deteriorated after the incident, and she died three months later. The doctors had purchased the drug from an illegal Canadian online pharmacy, who sourced their drugs from Turkey. The fake drug contained water and mold instead of any active ingredient. While mourning her loss, the family was left wondering whether Betty could have lived longer had she received legitimate Avastin instead of a fake version.
Laxmi Kumari, Nepal
Laxmi Kumari’s 2-year-old son is being treated for cancer in Kathmandu, Nepal. The family has contributed multiple months’ salaries worth of rupees to access treatment in a private facility in Kathmandu. Even with this substantial financial investment and the extensive travel involved to get to Kathmandu, Laxmi has no assurance that treatment will use legitimate medicines. “We have no way of knowing the quality of the medications being used in his treatment,” said Kumari. “We rely entirely on what the doctors recommend.” The entire family risks being dragged further into poverty if the chemotherapy treatment fails due to fake medicines, since that will result in additional expensive care.
Unnamed Pharmacist, Malawi
A pharmacist working in cancer care in Malawi said chemotherapy drugs arriving to his clinic would look off – sometimes changing color. Patients desperately seeking chemotherapy medicines would be turned away. “We had patients scheduled for clinic,” he said, “and then we had to break the news to them that we don’t have medicines.” The pharmacist also reports his patients overdosed on drugs for leukemia and lymphoma, suffering severe adverse reactions such as vomiting and nausea. These drugs were found to have excess active ingredient in a study happening at the time.