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BIZCHINA / Weekly Roundup

Fighting the medical wolves in sheep's clothing

By Wang Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-27 09:27

Also the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), the country's top
drug watchdog, has pledged to tighten inspection to make drugs absolutely
safe and eliminate shady deals in the approval process. "Corruption
starts with the approval procedure, with a small number of officials
bringing shame to the entire drug watchdog team," Xinhua quoted SFDA
deputy director Wu Zhen as having said.

The SFDA has turned down more than 3,000 applications for new drugs and
revoked the licenses of more than 360 medicines from August last year to
March this year, said Xinhua.

The Communist Party of China's top anti-corruption body, the Central
Committee for Discipline Inspection, is the most powerful arm fighting
corruption in the medical sector. Its investigation against former SFDA
chief Zheng Xiaoyu was instrumental in his removal on June 22, 2005. He
was found to have taken bribes to approve many drugs during his eight
years in office.

The SFDA handled 14 large health scams caused by bogus drugs last year,
including fake Armillarisin A injections in Qiqihar, Northeast China's
Heilongjiang Province, and sub-standard Xinfu antibiotics in Fuyang, East
China's Anhui Province.

Last July, the health authorities revoked the license of Qiqihar No 2
Pharmaceutical Co after a drug meant to treat gastric disorders killed 13
people in Guangzhou, capital of South's China Guangdong Province. And in
October, the drug watchdog ordered Fuyang Drug Company to stop producing
antibiotic injections, and sacked its top managers after the drug was
linked to at least 10 deaths.

(China Daily 04/27/2007 page12)

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