|
China: more problems with dangerous foods and pharmaceuticals
Chinese authorities have struggled with recalls after the widespread sale of fake polio vaccines, vitamins and baby formula. China, which has an across-the-board problem with food and drug safety, has come under growing pressure from the United States and the European Union to improve inspections of exports. Last month, the country's former top drug regulator was sentenced to death for taking bribes to approve substandard medicines, including an antibiotic blamed for at least 10 deaths. China said yesterday it was investigating the sale of fake blood protein, a potentially dangerous and widespread practice that underscores the country's problems with product safety. State media reported one death from use of the counterfeits. A shortage of albumin, a blood protein that chronically ill people often lack, triggered a nationwide investigation in March into whether fakes were being sold, China Central Television said. The report centered on an inquiry in the northeastern province of Jilin, where 59 hospitals and pharmacies were sold more than 2,000 bottles of counterfeit blood protein. It did not say what the products were made of, but said they could "make a patient's condition worsen and could cause death." Seven out of 36 batches of albumin tested by the Jilin Food and Drug Research Institute were found to be bogus, CCTV quoted the institute's deputy director, Xu Fei, as saying. "There was no element of protein, so it could not perform its intended function," Mr. Xu said. "They were through-and-through fakes." The China Business News said yesterday the State Food and Drug Administration had seized fake blood protein from other provinces and regions including Shanxi, Hubei, Hunan, Ningxia, Qinghai and Chongqing. Albumin is a primary protein in human plasma that is important in maintaining blood volume. It is used to treat conditions including shock, burns, liver failure and pancreatitis, and is needed by patients undergoing heart surgery. Posted by: trailing wife 2007-06-12 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=190566 |