Deadly fake diabetes drug from China's Liaoning, officials say

URUMQI, Feb. 6 (Chinese media) -- The fake diabetes drug

linked to two deaths in China's far western region of Xinjiang was found to have

come from northeast China's Liaoning Province, the region's authorities

announced Friday.

The drug, sold under the brand "Tang Zhi Ning Jiao

Nang," was found to contain six times the normal dose of glibenclamide, which is

used to help lower blood sugar. Two patients died after taking the fake drug

last month.

An investigation found that the drug was sent to

Kashi and Aksu, both in Xinjiang, from Chaoyang City, Liaoning by a man named Li

Dong, said Yu Shengde, Party secretary of the region's food and drug safety

bureau.

The food and drug safety regulator in southern

Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region confirmed Li was a distributor of Guangxi

Pingnan Pharmaceutical Co.

The company, however, denied it had produced the

deadly drugs.

The Ministry of Public Security issued an arrest

warrant Thursday for Li, described by the ministry as the chief suspect.

The Xinjiang authorities said 14,400 bottles of the

drug entered the region, of which 10,663 bottles had been recovered, including

3,539 taken from customers.

The drug also showed up in Liaoning and the

southwestern Sichuan Province. However, no one has been found to have fallen ill

after taking the drug outside of Xinjiang.

It is still not clear where the fake drug was

produced.