Nine people are confirmed to have died after being injected with
a fake Armillarisni A drug produced by the Qiqihar No.2
Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, said officials with the Third Hospital
Affiliated to the Sun Yat-sen University in south China's Guangdong Province.
Among other symptoms the fake drug damages the kidneys, nervous
system and liver. Of the victims five were confirmed dead by May
16. The hospital is the only one in Guangdong that bought the
drug. It has identified a total of 64 people who were given it.
Liao Xinbo, vice director of the Guangdong Provincial Department
of Health, said nine out of 18 people who were being treated with
the fake drug were believed to have been killed by it. The other
nine may have died of other causes, Liao said.
Five patients who fell ill because of the drug are recovering,
said Cai Daozhang, vice president of the hospital.
According to a briefing by the State Food and Drug
Administration (SFDA) last week the pharmaceutical company
purchased one ton of "propylene glycol" from a drug dealer named
Wang Guiping in September 2005. The chemical is used in the
production of Armillarisni A injections.
The "propylene glycol" delivered by Wang was in fact "diglycol,"
an industrial material that can cause acute kidney failure if
ingested. The company's quality inspectors failed to notice the
error.
Using diglycol, the company produced doses of the
injection that is used in the treatment of acute or chronic
cholecystitis and chronic and atrophic gastritis.
Drug authorities in Guangdong reported on May 3 that patients
being treated with these injections had developed acute kidney
failure symptoms, which prompted immediate investigations. Local
police in Qiqihar of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province took 14 staff from the
manufacturing company into custody after the deaths.
Guangdong officials said Sunday that five officials including
the manager, two deputy managers, the inspecting officer and
purchasing agent have been taken to Guangzhou as the investigation
continues.
Meanwhile, compensation procedures are underway although it has
not yet been decided who is ultimately responsible, local press
reported.
Liao was quoted as saying the pharmaceutical company could
be ordered to pay compensation to the families of people who died
or those who were injured by the fake drug. According to him, the
hospital did not make any mistakes when treating the patients.
"The hospital was not responsible," he noted.
In another development, the Qiqihar plant had their permission
to produce drugs withdrawn on Saturday. Five drugs manufactured by
the company had been found to be faked, including the deadly
injection fluid, according to sources with the Heilongjiang
Provincial Food and Drug Administration.
Meanwhile, SFDA will begin a nationwide drive to regulate the
market in medicines. Drug administrations have launched
comprehensive checks of raw material purchasing procedures,
management of materials and examination of finished products at
pharmaceutical factories.
In accordance with Premier Wen Jiabao's instructions, a joint
investigation work group left for Heilongjiang Saturday to
probe the deaths caused by the fake drug.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily May 22, 2006)