Associated Press
July 29, 2002
ááááHu Zushuang spent 30 years working his way up from digging coal to owning his own mine -- and paid for it with his health. He suffered constant aches and fatigue.
ááááIn September, at his doctor's suggestion, Hu was given what he was told was an intravenous drip of albumin, a blood protein that chronically ill people often lack. But instead of feeling better, he became feverish and passed out. Hu, 47, died the next day.
ááááPolice in this southwestern Chinese city found the bottle of albumin was counterfeit. It was falsely labeled to look like a local Chinese pharmaceutical brand and contained an unknown liquid that proved lethal in the human bloodstream.
ááááChina has become one of the world's largest producers of bogus medicines, which kill thousands of this country's people every year and are increasingly making their way overseas.
ááááQuality problems in China's drug industry have gained international attention in recent weeks, as five women in Japan and Singapore have died and 60 more been sickened after taking Chinese-made diet pills. The pills contained ingredients not listed on their packaging and are blamed for causing liver and thyroid damage.
ááááNastier still are the outright counterfeits, made by people seeking easy profits by mixing cheap chemicals and falsely labeling them as life-giving medicines.
ááááThe concoctions all too often cause sickness or death. Last year, 192,000 people in China died after using bogus or poor quality drugs, according to the state newspaper Shenzhen Evening News.
ááááThe real death toll could be far larger. Many fatalities are mistakenly reported as due to natural causes. In some cases, families and even doctors never realize the medicine is fake. In others, local officials may be trying to cover up.
ááááCounterfeit drugs are also turning up overseas, also with deadly results. In 1996, 89 children died in Haiti after being given a Chinese-made syrup for fever that lacked real medical ingredients but contained the same chemicals found in antifreeze.
ááááIn the United States, 36,000 fake Viagra pills were seized by police in Ohio before they could be sold. They were traced back to China, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has singled out as a top producer of counterfeit medicines.
ááááThe Chinese government says it has repeatedly cracked down since setting up a national agency in 1999 to deal with fake and substandard drugs.
ááááLast year, authorities closed 1,300 factories while investigating 480,000 cases of counterfeit drugs worth $57 million, according to the state-run newspaper China Daily.
ááááBut health experts and officials say thousands of producers still operate, some clandestinely, but others in the open, protected by local officials.
ááááExperts say production thrives in China partly because disregard for patents and copyrights already is so rampant. Pirated CDs and designer clothing are sold openly on street corners.
ááááBut a bigger problem, say experts, is collusion by local officials, who either take bribes from drug counterfeiters or don't want to lose the jobs and tax revenue that they provide.
ááááAs a result, the factories often survive central government crackdowns by paying fines of less than $50.
ááááThe factory that produced the bogus albumin that killed Hu, the mine owner, is still operating, according to his family. Police told them they had found it in Chongqing but refused to give its name, address or other details.
ááááPolice in Chongqing told The Associated Press by telephone that two middlemen were arrested this year for selling the medicine, but they refused to discuss the factory. They would only say that the two were not employees of the factory, where no one had been punished.
ááááThe officials said a court ordered the hospital in Baofeng, the village in the mountains two hours southwest of Chongqing where Hu lived, to pay a $6,250 fine for negligence. But the court also ruled neither the hospital nor Yi's doctor knew the drug was fake.
ááááYi, Hu's wife, is unhappy with the ruling. She points out that police discovered the hospital's director tried to throw away the empty bottle of fake albumin in a public toilet following Hu's Sept. 19 death. Police recovered the bottle.
áááá"I'm angry that the men who killed my husband are still free," she said.
ááááAccording to state media, the man in charge of China's crackdown on counterfeit drugs says lack of local-level official cooperation has allowed the trade to flourish.
áááá"We need help from local governments," Zheng Xiaoyu, head of the State Drug Administration, was quoted as saying by the China Daily.
http://www.examiner.com/headlines/default.jsp?story=n.bogus.0729w
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