As accidents involving disqualified drugs made "drug safety" one
of last year's buzzwords, Chinese political advisors are
brainstorming on the issue.
Driven by profit, many pharmaceutical companies went all out to
lower the cost of drugs disregarding their quality, said Chi
Baorong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People'
s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and professor with the
medical department of northeast China's Jilin University.
One example was the "Xinfu" drug by Anhui Huayuan Worldbest
Biology Pharmacy Co. that caused six deaths in last August.
"The medicine was sold at 38 yuan per bottle, but its cost was
only 2.7 yuan, even cheaper than a bottle of beverage," she
said.
To reduce the cost, many producers even sacrificed the test
procedure of drugs before throwing them into the market, noted
Chi.
She learned that the Qiqihar No. 2 Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. laid
off 60 percent of its staff to hire temporary workers. As a result,
none of the 11 checkers were professional enough to intercept the
fake injection that killed 11 last May.
In fact, after the notorious drug accidents, the State Food and
Drug Administration (SFDA) is about to encourage inspectors be
stationed in factories. However, CPPCC National Committee member
Wang Guozhi with the National Institute For the Control of
Pharmaceutical and Biological Products, doubted the feasibility of
this measure.
"Are there enough inspectors for all the factories? Are they
familiar with all kinds of drugs? And if they work in the
factories, how could we avoid corruption?" Wang questioned.
Long Zhixian, also a CPPCC member and former principal of the
Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, especially addressed the
problem of corruption. "Assessment of a new medicine is conducted
solely by the SFDA, the power of which is too centralized," he
said.
"The fate of the medicine lies only on the lips of several
officials, which leads to corruption," Long said.
In 2006 China approved about 6,500 new medicines, according to
Ba Denian, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Engineering
(CAE). The United States gives nod to about 100 medicines a
year.
Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of the SFDA, who has been expelled
from the Communist Party and given administrative penalty, was
found taking advantage of the administration's drug approval power
to obtain bribes and seek illegal profits for some drug companies,
disregarding his duty to supervise the drug market.
While the political advisors are urging the government to
strengthen inspection over drug companies and crack down on
corruption, some other advisors saw policy loopholes.
"The quality requirement of some medicines is so high that they
should be produced by only a small number of big pharmaceutical
companies," said Li Lianda, also a researcher with the CAE. Li
cited the example of Cordate Houttuynia, noting more than 190
companies hold the license of producing the herbal medicine.
The advisors also call for severer punishment to illegal drug
producers.
"A fine of thousands of yuan is not enough -- we should revoke
the license of questionable manufacturers," said Shao Yiming, a
medical expert with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Chi Baorong echoed in her proposal. "In the west those who
produce fake drugs shall be jailed for life, and the measure is
worth borrowing."
(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2007)