Investigations continued this weekend into the manufacturing of
a bogus drug by a Chinese pharmaceutical company. The drug caused
13 patients to suffer severe kidney failure.
The company, Qiqihar No 2 Pharmaceutical Company, has been
forced to suspend operations, drugs have been removed from
hospitals, and implicated persons have been arrested.
The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) on Thursday issued
an emergency announcement banning the sale and use of medicines
produced by the drug maker, which is based in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
The ban came after 13 patients had developed the symptoms of
acute kidney failure at the No 3 Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University
in Guangzhou, after using the company's Armillarisini A injection
earlier this month.
Armillarisini A can be used to treat gallstones and
gastritis.
Preliminary investigation showed that the drug was bogus on
account of serious flaws in the manufacturing process, the SFDA
said.
A nationwide campaign to remove all medicines produced by the
company has been carried out at the order of the SFDA.
Nearly 1.8 million sets were sealed in Heilongjiang Province
alone, said the local food and drug administration.
Qiqihar No 2 Pharmaceutical Co is a State-owned company with
more than 300 registered workers, but operations have now been
suspended. A security guard at the factory said the whole company
had been "on holiday for several days".
Cao Yongwen, head of the Qiqihar Food and Drug Administration,
said that propylene glycol, a chemical needed to produce the drug,
was to blame.
The chemical, which was purchased from Taixing Chemical Plant in
East China's Jiangsu Province, was found to be bogus.
Local food and drug administration officials in Jiangsu have
sealed the chemical in the plant for further investigation. An
employee named Wang Guiping was detained by local public security
officials on suspicion of selling the chemical, Xinhua News Agency
reported.
Li Yunlong, director of the Heilongjiang Food and Drug
Administration, said those who are responsible for manufacturing
the drug were under arrest, and severe punishments would be dished
out if they are found to be guilty.
(China Daily May 15, 2006)