China approves new drug regulations

China's State Council has approved a plan for nationwide regulation of the medical market, according to local media reports, in the wake of 11 deaths caused by a counterfeit drug manufactured by the Qiqihar No2 Pharmaceutical Company (Marketletters passim). The new measures will reportedly come into effect during 2007.

The decision comes when the Chinese media is focusing on a spate of deaths caused by hazardous antibiotic injections produced by the Anhui Huayuan Worldbest Biology Pharmacy Co and local health authorities have been ordered to compile daily reports on adverse reactions to the drug, a reporting procedure last employed during the severe acute repiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003. A 76-year old woman in Harbin, northeast China, became the seventh victim of a faulty batch of clindamycin phosphate glucose in late July. The drug has been banned across the country since August 4. Anhui has sold 3.18 million units of the drug throughout China.

Failure to prevent adverse reactions "will be punished"