China Recalls Drugs In Continuing Safety Scare

China has recalled leukaemia drugs produced by a Shanghai drug company after several children suffered side-effects, the latest in a series of product safety scares to hit China, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

Xinhua said "most" of the relevant drugs produced by Hualian Pharmaceutical Company had been recalled, according to the Shanghai municipal government media office.

Earlier this month, the government suspended production and sale of the generic drugs - methotrexate and cytarabin hydrochloride.

Xinhua did not say how widely the drugs had been distributed or whether any had been exported.

Several children suffering from leukaemia in three hospitals of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Shanghai City felt pain in their legs and some had difficulty walking after being injected with the methotrexate drug in early July, according to the report.

Investigations showed several batches of the two drugs had been contaminated during production, Xinhua said. The factories were closed pending the outcome of the investigation.

China has come under pressure from Washington and elsewhere regarding the safety of exports ranging from toys to toothpaste.

In the wake of several widely publicized product recalls, Beijing has launched a nationwide campaign to improve product quality and food safety.

Xinhua also said authorities had reprimanded dozens of factories in eastern Zhejiang province after finding that 40 percent of the children's clothing they produced did not meet quality standards.

The district where the factories are located, in Huzhou city, makes one fourth of the country's children's garments, Xinhua said. The garments had problems with their dyes, fibre content and stitching, Xinhua said, adding that none of the companies involved exported their products. (Independent Online)

***** In what seems like a never ending revelation of the deplorable quality control methods used in China, the latest scandal is yet another blow to the myth of Chinese parity with Western products and standards. 'Third world mentality' comes to mind and apparently is well entrenched in this future 'super power'. If for whatever reason you must buy made-in-China goods, please do exercise great caution especially where your children are concerned. Better safe than sorry.
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