No New Case Found Involving Fake Diabetes Pills

Chinese drug watchdogs said on Monday that it has reclaimed and sealed up a total of 9,391 bottles of counterfeit diabetes drugs that caused two deaths in the remote Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

No such counterfeit diabetes drugs have been found outside Xinjiang and no new poisoning cases have been reported, said Yan Jiangying, spokeswoman with the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA).

China's Ministry of Health issued an urgent notice last Friday calling for medical institutions nationwide to immediately stop using a diabetes drug branded "Tang Zhi Ning Jiao Nang" following the death of two patients who died on Jan. 17 and 19 after taking the drug.

Most of the drugs were found in Kashi and Aksu in the western part of the region. Yan said 2,663 bottles were collected from drug users.

The region's police had detained four suspects for allegedly selling the counterfeit diabetes drugs but had not yet found out the source of those drugs, the spokeswoman said. She did not give further details about the suspects detained in Xinjiang.

The SFDA was investigating the source and distribution of the counterfeit drugs, she said, adding preliminary investigation shows that the drugs were not made in Xinjiang.

The food and drug authorities started a nationwide check for the counterfeit drugs. said Yan Jiangying.

The deadly drugs contain excessive amounts of the chemical ingredient "glibenclamide" and were illegally using the brand "Tang Zhi Ning Jiao Nang" originally owned by the Guangxi Pingnan Pharmaceutical Co.

Glibenclamide is used to help reduce the content of human body's blood sugar, but it should be taken in doses exceeding 15 mg daily.

According to tests of the counterfeit drugs, some pills contain up to 12.3 mg per capsule and the content in each capsule varied.

According to Yan, the SFDA also dispatched a working team on Sunday to Guangxi to help local authorities handle the case.

The ministry also asked medical institutions to record cases where drugs with the same brand had been used and submit samples to local medicine inspection bodies for further examination.

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2009)