At the weekend an investigation into the manufacture of a drug
produced by a Chinese pharmaceutical company, which is believed to
have caused severe kidney failure in 13 patients, got
underway.?
The firm involved, Qiqihar No 2 Pharmaceutical Company, has been
forced to suspend operations. Drugs have been removed from
hospitals and a number of those thought to be involved have been
arrested.
The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) on last
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 about when 13 patients showed symptoms of acute
kidney failure at the No. 3 Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in
Guangzhou after they'd been given the company's Armillarisini A
injections earlier this month. The drug can be used to treat
gallstones and gastritis.
Preliminary investigations show the drug was bogus because of
serious flaws in the manufacturing process, the SFDA said. They
ordered a nationwide withdrawal of all medicines produced by the
company.?
Nearly 1.8 million doses of the drug were manufactured in
Heilongjiang Province alone, said the local food and drug
administration.
Qiqihar No 2 Pharmaceutical Company is state-owned with more
than 300 registered workers but their 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 propylene glycol, a chemical used to produce the drug was the
cause of the problem. It was bought from Taixing Chemical Plant in
east China's Jiangsu Province but was found to be
bogus.
Local food and drug administration officials in Jiangsu have
sealed supplies of 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 were responsible for manufacturing
the drug were under arrest and severe punishments could follow if
they were found guilty of producing the fake drug.??
(China Daily May 15, 2006)