China bans problematic injection medicine causing at least one death
4/8/2006 14:38
The Chinese Ministry of Health issued an urgent circular ordering the
disuse of a problematic injection medicine used to treat bacteria infections,
which probably has caused at least one death.
A six-year-old girl from
Harbin, the capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, was reportedly
killed from having been mainlined with this problematic antibiotics known as
clindamycin phosphate glucose injection.
The girl, identified as Liu Sichen,
had an intravenous injection of the clindamycin phosphate at about 2 p.m. on
July 24 for common cold, but she developed symptoms including high fever within
20 minutes, according to Sun Pengli, director of Pharmaceuticals Side Effects
Monitoring Center of Harbin City, on Friday.
The clindamycin phosphate
glucose injection mainlined into the girl patient was known to be produced by
Anhui Huayuan Worldbest Biology Pharmacy Co, a subsidiary of Shanghai Worldbest
CoLtd, with a batch number of 06062602.
The patient was soon transferred to
the State Farm General Hospital of Heilongjiang Province for further rescue
operation.
The girl remained in a coma.
She was again transferred to the
No.2 Hospital of the Harbin Medical Sciences University, but was proclaimed dead
at the night of July 24 despite all rescue efforts by medical workers.
"Based
on all materials we have gathered, a preliminary judgement can be made that the
girl was killed due to the injection of the clindamycin phosphate glucose
produced by the Anhui Huayuan Worldbest Biology Pharmacy Co," said Sun
Pengli.
The Ministry of Health demanded that all batches of clindamycin
phosphate glucose injections produced in the past two moths by Anhui Huayuan
Worldbest Biology Pharmacy Co be suspended from use immediately.
An
increasing number of patients from provinces and regions including Qinghai,
Guangxi, Zhejiang, Heilongjiang and Shandong have complained about symptoms
ranging from chest distress, pain in the kidney of the body, bellyache,
diarrhea, nausea, vomit, to anaphylactic shock after having been injected with
the clindamycin phosphate glucose injections produced by the Anhui
company.
Fake of bad drugs have killed dozens of people in China in recent
years and raised questions about drug safety.
The country has recently fined
Qiqihar No.2 Pharmaceutical Co Ltd and revoked its licence after its drug meant
to treat gastric disorders killed 11 people and turned out to be bogus.
While
ordering that an inventory be made into the stockpile of the injections and all
unused injections be sealed properly, the ministry circular also asked medical
and health organizations not to purchase the injections made by the
above-mentioned company.
In the meantime, the circular also told medical
organizations to arrange medical workers to closely monitor patients who have
had the injections and go all out to rescue those patients who have shown
serious clinical symptoms.
Clindamycin phosphate glucose injections are
mainly used to treat bacteria infections caused by gram-positive bacterium and
gram-positive anaerobic bacterium. Side effects are mainly restricted to the
gastrointestinal tract and anaphylactic reaction, sometimes coupled with
abnormalities with the the liver and kidney body parts.
xinhua
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