The next time you buy any medicine check out for the 3d hologram symbol as most of the pharmaceuticals companies have come up with the authentic logo for the drive against fake drugs. While the health ministry in India estimates that only five per cent of the drugs sold in are spurious, research reveals that fake drug market in India is growing by 25 per cent annually. According to the study by ASSOCHAM, the spurious drugs market has captivated 20-25 per cent of the total market share. India has emerged as the leading distributor of spurious drugs and enjoys a share of 75 per cent in the total fake drugs supplied all over the world. The enormous growth of spurious drug industry and its disastrous impact has led the genuine drug's manufacturers to take vital measures in order to ensure that their consumers get authentic drugs. Companies like GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, Enosss and Piramal Healthcare have come out with 3D hologram as a symbol of authenticity so as to protect the health interest of the society. Presently, fake drugs alone accounts for almost 2 per cent of the medicines sold in the country out of the total organized medicines market of Rs 32,000 crores. Considering the huge market for spurious drugs all of us are, on a day to day basis, exposed to the very dangerous possibility of consuming fatal sub-standard drugs. Spurious drugs are so perfect in look that it is very hard to distinguish it from the genuine drugs through the naked eyes. The manufacturers of such drugs leaves no stone unturned in order to give real look to their product. Depending on the characteristics and nature of genuine medicines various methods like recycling, refilling, re-labeling, counterfeiting or imitations are commonly adopted to manufacture spurious drugs. Among the spurious drugs commonly found in the Indian market are fake insulin which may be taken by an unsuspecting diabetic, fake chemotherapy that may be administered to a final-stage cancer patient, the use of chalk instead of paracitamol in painkillers, or the use of colored tap-water presented as cough syrups without any effect until it is too late. Sub-strength spurious drugs such as anti-malarial drugs not only fail to cure but over a period of time, create resistance in the malarial parasite with disastrous consequences for the patient. Some other spurious drugs are contaminated, containing substances injurious to health, such as contaminated intravenous drips and eye drops that are supposed to cure but instead cause blindness. The organized pharmaceuticals sector has taken cognizance of this issue and many companies and brands are now taking measures to safeguard the interest of the patients. Crocin, a popular brand by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, has taken serious steps to protect consumer interest by building 3-D hologram technology, which makes it very difficult for spurious manufacturers to duplicate and check spate of spurious products invading the market. Piramal Healthcare is another company, which has their hologram on as many as 7 leading products that they sell including Phensedyl. Says Dr Vivek Nangia, Chest Physician, Batra Hospital, "However, the onus is also on the buyers to ensure that they always ask for a sales receipt for the medicine bought. The chemist is unlikely to sell a spurious drug with a receipt as complete details of the drug sold gets captured - from the brand name to even the batch number of the drug along with the price. Since it is put on record, the chemist is not likely to sell a spurious drug in this fashion. Since medicines are for curing the ailing, it is always worthwhile to pay a few rupees more to get an authentic product which will work when compared to a cheaper variety that can even do harm".