Just as the heparin hoopla [1] was starting to settle down, now China is reporting that six patients in Jiangxi province have died after injections of immunoglobulins. All the injections came from a single batch made by Jiangxi Yabo Bio-Pharmaceutical, which has been ordered to stop producing the drug. China's State Food and Drug Administration has launched an investigation. Penalties for pharma-tampering are severe [2] in China; last month, five officials of a company that sold a tainted antibiotic were sentenced to seven years in prison.
- read the AFP story [3]
- check out the Associated Press article [4]
Related Articles:
U.S., China trade blame on heparin
China launches drug recall system [1]
China to overhaul drug safety regulations [5]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/u.s.-china-trade-blame-on-heparin/2008-04-22
[2] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/china-drug-czar-executed-for-corruption/2007-07-10
[3] http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g7lFzd1BOYeFjtftEJQDjI2-JbuA
[4] http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iX53w6HUQ-uJn6YJcW4HpcPV-jxgD911SMA00
[5] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/china-to-overhaul-drug-safety-regulations/2007-06-07