Chinese police have arrested almost 2,000 people in a nationwide sweep on fake drugs, seizing more than €140m worth of counterfeit products.
The police also destroyed 1,100 production facilities.
18,000 police officers discovered fake or adulterated drugs purporting to deal with illnesses ranging from diabetes to high blood pressure and rabies.
The suspects went so far as to advertise their drugs online, in newspapers and on television.
The drugs caused problems ranging from liver and kidney damage to heart failure.
A Chinese ministry said: "The criminals' methods were despicable and have caused people to boil with rage."
The government has repeatedly promised to tighten regulatory systems.
There have been recent safety scandals involving fish, drugs, toys, toothpaste, children's clothes, tyres, drugs and milk fortified with melamine, which is used to manufacture tabletops.
But little has been done apart from a few, highly publicised arrests.
Tackling the issue has not been helped by China's confused and still-developing regulatory environment, corruption and the high profits counterfeiters can rake in.
Earlier this year, Chinese consumers recoiled at stories of drug capsules tainted with chromium, long-term exposure to which causes serious organ damage.
While it hailed the success of the latest raids, China warned against complacency.
"The crime of making fake drugs is still far from eradicated, and criminals are coming up with new schemes, becoming craftier and better able to deceive," it said.
The ministry has called on consumers to only use above board pharmacies and hospitals and not "easily believe advertisements".
