One more person from central China's Hubei Province was killed after receiving an
antibiotic injection that is suspected to have caused the death of
a six-year-old girl and sickened 48 others.
The dead, identified to be Shang Hongfen, 48, from Yidu, a city
in Yichang, was hospitalized at the No.1 People's Hospital of Yidu
for suppurative nasosinusitis on July 23, according to information
from Hubei Provincial Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) Monitoring
Center.
The woman patient started to have intravenous injection produced
by the Anhui Huayuan Worldbest Biology Pharmacy Co. in east China's
Anhui Province, on July 25, but she became
very ill, with symptoms including chill and stomach discomfort. She
died on August 2.
Before this case, the problematic drug is also suspected of
having caused the death of the six-year-old Liu Sichen from Harbin,
capital of northeastern China's Heilongjiang Province, on July 27. Liu was
injected with the drug while being treated for a common cold on
July 24.
Ten other people in Hubei were also sickened after having
intravenous injection of the same drug, bringing the total number
of the people sickened by the problematic drug to 48.
The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) said the victims
became ill after receiving the medicine produced by the Anhui
Huayuan Worldbest Biology Pharmacy Co. in Anhui Province.
The administration has recalled and banned the use of the
clindamycin phosphate glucose injection that is used to treat
bacterial infections.
It has also ordered Anhui Provincial Food and Drug Bureau to
track and locate all batches of the drug.
The Chinese Ministry of Health on Thursday issued an urgent
circular banning use of the drug produced by the Anhui Huayuan
Worldbest Biology Pharmacy Co.
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2006)