India, July 16 -- When Prathamesh Phadtare, 25, a Pune-based transport businessman, bought a fairness cream for Rs.3,200 on the recommendation of his friends, he never thought that months later, he would have to undergo a nearly Rs.7.1 lakh worth prolonged treatment including a Rs.1.54 lakh worth spinal injection, at a private hospital in Kharadi. He never imagined that the cream he had been using contained mercury and other heavy metals as confirmed later by a laboratory analysis.

Another patient, 26, had to be admitted to a private hospital in Pune after getting severe pain in both legs, excessive sweating and involuntary leg movements. Like Phadtare, he had been using a fairness cream for several months, never once suspecting that it ...