Pharma workers held in 4 deaths

By Ji Mi | May 16, 2006, Tuesday |

Print Edition

POLICE have detained several employees of the Qiqihar drugmaker involved in ingredient purchase, logistics and quality inspection after a company drug was linked to the deaths of four and the kidney failure of several other people.

Six of those people remain in critical condition, including three who have been placed on respirators, the State Food and Drug Administration said late yesterday, in discussing their investigation of suspect batches of injected Armillarisin A.

The drug is typically injected as a treatment for gall bladder, liver and gastric disorders.

Authorities across the country are investigating the circumstances surrounding the drug's manufacture, Zhang Jixiang, a spokesperson for the administration, told a press conference.

Purchasers of the drugmaker didn't check necessary certificates of the Taixing Chemical Company in Taixing, Jiangsu Province, when buying propylene glycol, an ingredient of Armillarisin A injection, from the supplier last September, Zhang said, adding that the drugmaker didn't send workers for a spot check at the supplier either.

Wang Guiping, a Jiangsu Province farmer, sold at least 1 ton of diethylene glycol from the Jiangsu chemical factory as propylene glycol to the Qiqihar drugmaker, the official told reporters.

Zhang said authorities have begun tracing the route of Wang's diethylene glycol. Wang is in police custody in Jiangsu.

In 1937, a Tennessee-based drugmaker mixed the chemical into a medication, which led to serious kidney failure in the users, killing 107 people and injuring another 251.

The Qiqihar No. 2 Pharmaceutical Co Ltd in Heilongjiang Province failed to discover the substituted ingredient, which then made it into problem batches of Armillarisin.

The pharmaceutical company used fake drug licenses when selling the problem drug across the country, Zhang said.

The administration is investigating whether the company made similar violations when producing and selling other products. The drugmaker produces more than 130 types of medications.

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Pharma workers held in 4 deaths

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