Two people who received an herbal drug that was suspected of causing the death of a woman in northwest China's Qinghai Province were improving, doctors said Monday.
Tian Zengcheng, 48, and Wang Farong, 51, developed life-threatening symptoms last week after being injected with Shuanghuanglian, an herbal drug made by the Jiamusi factory of the Wusuli River Pharmacy in Heilongjiang Province.
They had improved after emergency treatment from doctors summoned from Beijing and Shanghai by the Ministry of Health, according to Qinghai People's Hospital.
"Tian was diagnosed with acute renal failure," said Doctor An Ling. "He is sleeping and eating well now. We cannot say he is totally out of danger. He needs further dialysis."
Wang Farong, who had liver failure, had stabilized and was improving. "He can walk now," said his wife Li Dejie.
A 62-year-old woman in Qinghai died on Tuesday after receiving the injection.
After the death, the Ministry of Health and the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) urged all hospitals and drug stores to suspend the use and sale of the product made by Jiamusi factory.
Shuanghuanglian injections are used to treat fever and coughs caused by colds.
An initial investigation showed that the batch numbers of the problematic drugs were 0809028 and 0809030. More than 400,000 injections of the two batches were sold in Qinghai, Hebei, Heilongjiang and Shandong provinces, according to the SFDA.
More than 8,000 bottles of the problematic Shuanghuanglian injections in Qinghai have been recalled, while more than 40,000 bottles remain in circulation in the province, said Yang Guoyu, an official of the Provincial Food and Drug Administration.
The drug made by Jiamusi factory caused 56 cases of adverse reactions in east China's Shandong Province from Jan. 1, 2008 to Feb. 11, 2009. One case was related to the recalled batches, according to the Shandong Provincial Food and Drug Administration.
"No severe reactions have been reported," said Li Panhai, director of the Provincial Center for Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring. "The reactions included fever, localized pain and vomit. All the symptoms disappeared after treatment or injections stopped."
(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2009)