Also the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), the country's top drug watchdog, has pledged to tighten inspection to make drugs absolutely safe and eliminate shady deals in the approval process. "Corruption starts with the approval procedure, with a small number of officials bringing shame to the entire drug watchdog team," Xinhua quoted SFDA deputy director Wu Zhen as having said.

The SFDA has turned down more than 3,000 applications for new drugs and revoked the licenses of more than 360 medicines from August last year to March this year, said Xinhua.

The Communist Party of China's top anti-corruption body, the Central Committee for Discipline Inspection, is the most powerful arm fighting corruption in the medical sector. Its investigation against former SFDA chief Zheng Xiaoyu was instrumental in his removal on June 22, 2005. He was found to have taken bribes to approve many drugs during his eight years in office.

The SFDA handled 14 large health scams caused by bogus drugs last year, including fake Armillarisin A injections in Qiqihar, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, and sub-standard Xinfu antibiotics in Fuyang, East China's Anhui Province.

Last July, the health authorities revoked the license of Qiqihar No 2 Pharmaceutical Co after a drug meant to treat gastric disorders killed 13 people in Guangzhou, capital of South's China Guangdong Province. And in October, the drug watchdog ordered Fuyang Drug Company to stop producing antibiotic injections, and sacked its top managers after the drug was linked to at least 10 deaths.

(China Daily 04/27/2007 page12)