"The sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being." thus go the lines once quoted by the famous Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Carl Gustav. Words like these, reinstate our faith in the greatest virtue in the world, that of humanity. What makes our race distinct from the others is the mere existence of this virtue, love for the fellow being and sensitivity towards it. And it is the realization of the elimination of this quality from the human heart that pinches the conscience. Day in and day out we come across acts of murder, rape, religious wars etc. that further propagate the feeling of disappearance of humanity .But the greatest and most common reason triggering this feeling is - greed .Greed is the root cause of all evil. And in the pursuit of its satiation, countless social ills have risen.

A rising trend of manufacturing and selling counterfeit drugs and medical equipments is another manifestation of greed. Medical equipments include all products, except medicines, used in healthcare for the diagnosis, prevention, monitoring or treatment of illness or disability. The range of products is very wide: it includes contact lenses and condoms; heart valves and hospital beds; resuscitators and radiotherapy machines; surgical instruments and syringes; wheelchairs and walking frames.

Counterfeiters concentrate on low cost, high turnover, high demand products. They manufacture devices that would bring larger returns to them, in the bargain, endangering the lives of millions of people. . Counterfeit medical devices are dangerous, and are deficient in terms of quality and performance .Counterfeiting in something as crucial and indispensable as surgical or other medical equipments is inexplicable. It is the nadir of all humanity .It is a point at which someone is ensconced by greed to such an extent that there's no bringing him back. The major hurdles faced by the government in unravelling this nexus are:

• The supply of counterfeit devices directly to consumers rather than healthcare professionals, through small retail outlets. Cases that are known to have reached consumers include condoms, and dental material for use in fillings. Incidents of counterfeits intercepted before reaching consumers include glucose test strips for use in conjunction with Insulin, and corrective contact lenses.
  
• Counterfeit devices are usually packaged to a high standard and difficult to distinguish from the genuine article.
  
• Counterfeit devices are also supplied through Internet websites(difficult to monitor)
  
• Unlike medicines, wholesalers do not require a licence to trade in medical devices.

The government needs to put robust systems in place to prevent them from penetrating into the pharmaceutical supply chain and if penetration occurs, to have safeguards to detect counterfeits early and protect the public accordingly. Worryingly, a growing number of purchases of medicines and medical devices are now made over the Internet, through online pharmacies, via internet auction sites, or by mail order. Licensing all the steps of the distribution system from manufacturing, distribution, storage through the supply chain, and by monitoring the supply and manufacture of medical devices, is necessary. Adhering to the stated measures can , in some way diminish ,if not eliminate ,this abhorrent malpractice.