China's drug watchdog has suspended the sale of methotrexate, a drug often used to treat acute leukemia and rheumatoid arthritis, made by Shanghai Hualian Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

The drug has caused adverse reactions in several leukemia child patients in three hospitals of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Shanghai, according to the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA).

Some of the children have felt pain in their legs and some have experienced difficulty in walking after being injected with the methotrexate drug numbered 070403A and 070403B, the report said.

The SFDA has ordered the local food and drug administrations in Guangxi and Shanghai to reevaluate the drugs.

According to WHO statistics, there have been 12,502 reports of adverse reactions to methotrexate worldwide.

(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2007)