Local officials risk punishement with killer antibiotic
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-08-10 10:39
BEIJING - China's health ministry warned local officials they risked
punishment if slack performance were to cause more problems involving a flawed
antibiotic that may have cost at least six lives.
All local health departments are to report to their superiors if they detect
people showing adverse reactions caused by use of the now-banned Xinfu drug, the
ministry said in a notice on its website.
"Officials will be held accountable if slack supervision and control work
leads to more adverse reaction cases," the notice warned.
It is now believed that at least six people have died after using the
product, also know as clindamycin phosphate glucose, according to the state-run
Xinhua news agency.
The State Food and Drug Administration banned the drug and started a
nationwide recall early this month.
The drug, used to treat bacterial infections, is produced by Anhui Huayuan
Worldbest Biology Pharmacy Co. in east China's Anhui province, according to
Xinhua.
Symptoms among patients sickened by the drug include kidney pains, stomach
aches, nausea, vomiting and chest pains, Xinhua said
previously.
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