Sir, I write in relation to your recent editorial The artfulness of the fake (BDJ 2015; 215: 317). I would like to inform of an experience which I had recently.

I purchased an iPad mini as a Christmas gift for my disabled sister-in-law in 2013 from Apple store. I received a beautifully packaged product with which she was delighted. Unfortunately, two months later it would not charge because the device decided that the charging cable was a counterfeit (supplied by Apple).

My sister-in-law's Lithuanian carer gave her a cable which she had purchased in the local market for $2 which is working perfectly! Makes one wonder.

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