Hong Kong Department of Health advised the public Thursday not to buy or take a Chinese herbal preparation labeled "Beijing Jiannan Zhongyi Hospital Zhongyao Pei Fang Ke Li" , as the product was found to contain Western drug ingredients that might cause serious side effects.

A spokesman for the department said the product was discovered through a 40-year-old man who was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital with acute hepatitis in July. Investigations found that he bought the medicine on the Chinese mainland and had been taking it for gouty arthritis, a disease caused by excessive urates accumulated in the bloodstream and joints.

Laboratory tests on the product found that it contained five Western drug ingredients, namely, phenacetin, aminopyrine, ibuprofen, diclofenac and indomethacin, which may cause gastrointestinal disturbances or blood-related diseases.

The spokesman said that according to the Department of Health's records, the product concerned was not registered under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance in Hong Kong. The department also had no record of the product having been imported into Hong Kong for sale.

He said that members of the public who have obtained the product should immediately stop using it and seek medical advice if they feel unwell.

The spokesman explained that ibuprofen, diclofenac and indomethacin were all pain killers, but they could cause gastrointestinal disturbances such as gastric pain, nausea, vomiting, peptic ulcer and bleeding. Phenacetin and aminopyrine were used previously as pain killers, but were banned in Hong Kong in 1983 and 1984 respectively due to their serious side-effects such as haemolytic anaemia and agranulocytosis.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2006)