China detains four suspects for selling fake diabetes drugs

BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Chinese media) -- Chinese police had detained four suspects for

selling faked diabetes drugs that have killed two patients in the remote

northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a government spokesperson said on

Sunday.

The food and drug authorities had started a nationwide check for the fake

drugs, said Yan Jiangying, spokeswoman with the State Food and Drug

Administration (SFDA).

She did not give any details about the suspects detained in Xinjiang.

China's Ministry of Health issued an urgent notice last Friday calling for

medical institutions nationwide to immediately stop using a diabetes drug

branded "Tang Zhi Ning Jiao Nang" since two patients died on Jan. 17 and 19

after taking the drug.

The death-causing drugs contain an illegal chemical ingredient

"glibenclamide" and were illegally using the brand "Tang Zhi Ning Jiao Nang"

originally owned by the Guangxi Pingnan Pharmaceutical Co, the spokeswoman said.

The SFDA was investigating the source and distribution of the fake drugs,

she said, adding preliminary investigation shows that the faked drugs were not

made in Xinjiang.

According to Yan, the SFDA also dispatched a working team on Sunday to

Guangxi to help local authorities handle the case.

The ministry also asked medical institutions to record cases where drugs

with the same brand had been used and submit samples to local medicine

inspection bodies for further examination.