Psoriasis drug banned
27/2/2003 18:02
A new psoriasis drug has been banned due to serious side effects,
eastday.com reported today.
The capsules, called "Yinxiedi", or
"Psoriasis Fighter" in English, have resulted in one death and may have caused a
case of leukemia, according to the Beijing Youth.
The State Drug
Administration ordered the ban on Monday, halting all distribution and use. The
precise reason for the tragic effects has yet to be determined.
Yinxiedi
capsules, developed by a Chinese herbalist who spent 30 years researching
psoriasis, was touted as a miracle cure at first, the only drug yet to
completely resolve the chronic skin condition.
Psoriasis is not fatal,
but can cause extreme discomfort and itching.
Mass produced in Xi'an,
capital of central China's Shaanxi Province, Yinxiedi soon caught on in western
and northern China as a legal drug distributed through
pharmacies.
However, a woman in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region was found
dead last August, 103 days after starting to take the capsules. An autopsy
revealed that she died of lung dysfunction caused by side effects of the
drug.
Hundreds of reports of serious side effects followed the incident,
but no further fatalities.
Yesterday in Beijing, an old man surnamed Zhao
filed a suit, claiming that his newly acquired case of leukemia could have been
caused by Yinxiedi.
Zhao took the capsules every day in July, 2001, but
stopped 40 days later because his vision deteriorated rapidly and he developed
diabetes. About a year later, in December, 2002, he was diagnosed with
leukemia.
Both vision loss and high blood sugar are confirmed side
effects of Yinxiedi, but whether they could have led to leukemia has yet to be
decided.
The adverse effects of the drug are still under
investigation.
Vicky Xu / Shanghai Daily news
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