Fake Cancer Drug Ring Exposed in Chinese Trial
Eleven defendants pleaded guilty to producing and selling fake cancer drug medication that caused eye infections in 61 people in Shanghai, China.
The counterfeit cancer medication, given to patients suffering macular degeneration, was containmnated saline, reported the prosecution to the Luwan District People’s Court, reported English Eastday.
A drug test report by the Shanghai Institute for Food and Drug Control found that the fake Avastin contained excessive bacteria endotoxin.
The 61 patients were among 116 people who received the fake medicine in September 2010.
The process for the distribution of the fake medication was detailed by defendants, reported the Shanghai Daily.
Shanghai Pudong by Slices of Light via Flickr.
Shanghai Pudong
by Slices of Light via Flickr.
Eleven defendants pleaded guilty to producing and selling fake cancer drug medication that caused eye infections in 61 people in Shanghai, China.
The counterfeit cancer medication, given to patients suffering macular degeneration, was containmnated saline, reported the prosecution to the Luwan District People’s Court, reported English Eastday.
A drug test report by the Shanghai Institute for Food and Drug Control found that the fake Avastin contained excessive bacteria endotoxin.
The 61 patients were among 116 people who received the fake medicine in September 2010.
The process for the distribution of the fake medication was detailed by defendants, reported the Shanghai Daily.
The order for the fake cancer drug originated with Li Xiaoqin, an unlicensed drug seller in Shanghai. He commissioned, Wu Guosong, a counterfeit drug producer from Heilongjiang Province, to produce fake Avastin.
However, Wu needed fake packaging to produce undetectable replicas of the life-saving medication, and purchased 90 of 200 sets of Avastin packaging produced by a print factor operated by Zhao Hongchen, Wang Hao and Xie Shangkun for 27,000 yuan.
Wu then had his wife, Wang Shuang, and others take the replica medicine bottles to their homes in Beijing to fill them with saline solution.
Then, the 90 bottles of fake Avastin were transported by air to Shanghai by Wu where Li purchased them for more than 90,000 yuan.
Eventually Li resold the fake cancer drugs to the cancer center for somewhere between 300,000 and 4000,000 yuan.
“It’s a simple process,” Wu said at the hearing. “Every time when Li asked for the drug, I would transport the drugs to Shanghai by air.”
No verdict has been released by the court.