China's Counterfeit Condoms Have Health Officials Worried

The Los Angeles Times examines how an increase in counterfeit condoms in China has health officials fearing the worst -- the products "may in fact spread infectious diseases, tarnishing the axiom that condoms mean safe sex." The newspaper continues, "Authorities estimate that up to a third of the contraceptives used in some parts of China are counterfeits, despite improvements in state food and drug oversight. None of the counterfeits are properly sterilized, and others are of such inferior quality that they could rupture during use." The article details how authorities are attempting to track down what they estimate are more than one million condoms distributed throughout China, and notes how the knockoff condoms were uncovered in discount stores in New York, Texas and Virginia in 2008 (Glionna, 1/21).

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