India plans to introduce the death penalty for the sale and manufacture of fake and counterfeit medicines that cause grievous harm. The move follows widespread concern that existing regulations pose little deterrence to unscrupulous drug vendors.

An expert committee last week recommended stiffer penalties for violating the drug laws and improvements in the nation's drug regulatory infrastructure. India's health minister Sushma Swaraj pledged that she would accelerate the process of enacting the changes.

“Profiting from spurious drugs that might harm or kill innocent people is equivalent to mass murder,” said Mrs Swaraj, after receiving an interim …