China's watchdogs exposed eight local television stations yesterday for
broadcasting adverts for illegal drugs over the nationwide satellite network.
China's State Industry and Commerce Administration and State Food and Drug
Administration published a blacklist that included television stations of Gansu,
Shaanxi, Shanxi, Heilongjiang and Hebei Provinces, Tianjin Municipality and the
Inner Mongolia and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Regions.
According to the report, the television stations broadcasted adverts for
prescription drugs, that exaggerated the effects of certain drugs or used
celebrities to guarantee a drug's effectiveness.
The illegal adverts also included health foods that were advertised as
medicines without permission from the authorities.
The State Industry and Commerce Administration called on local departments to
strengthen supervision of advertisements broadcast by local television stations
and punish the offending advertisers.
The State Food and Drug Administration ordered its local branches to carry
out more inspections of local drug and health food producers.
