China has launched a comprehensive check of pharmaceutical
plants nationwide after a fake drug caused the death of five
people.
"Drug administrations should immediately launch comprehensive
checks of raw materials purchased, management of materials and
examination of finished products of pharmaceutical plants," says a
circular issued by the State Food and Drug Administration.
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Five people died and six people were hospitalized after they
were injected with the fake drug Armillarisni A injection made by
the Qiqihar No. 2 Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. in northeast China's
Heilongjiang Province.
The government has shut down the plant and banned the sale of
all medicines made by it.
"We must further improve supervision and administration of drug
production to ensure the safety of drugs and prevent such accidents
from happening again," said an official with the
administration.
According to a government investigation, the company purchased
one ton of "propylene glycol" from drug dealer Wang Guiping in
September 2005 as auxiliary material for producing the Armillarisni
A Injection.
The "propylene glycol" delivered by Wang is actually diglycol,
an industrial material which causes acute kidney failure if taken
by humans. The company's quality inspectors failed to discover the
problem.
Using diglycol, the company produced the injection, mainly for
treating acute or chronic cholecystitis and chronic and atrophic
gastritis.
Drug authorities in South China's Guangdong Province reported on
May 3 that patients using the injection had developed acute kidney
failure symptoms, which prompted immediate investigation into the
case.
The police have detained the suspect Wang Guiping and have taken
other people involved in the case into custody.
Further investigations revealed the Qiqihar No. 2 Pharmaceutical
Co., Ltd. had been producing four other fake drugs before its
closure.
(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2006)