Of all drugs available, some are ineffective or useless, and others are dangerous but have at least one equivalent safe alternative. Drugs that are of no therapeutic use cannot be justified on either medical or economic grounds. Therefore, these drugs should be eliminated by a general ban. In 1982 Bangladesh banned 1707 products, fully one-third of its total consumption. Of the banned products, 305 were altogether harmful, 134 associations (associations of components offering no additional therapeutic value as compared with their components taken separately) required reformulation and 1268 drugs were useless. Industrial or political problems engendered by such bans must be taken into consideration, but without compromising the goal of the ban.