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Subscribe to RSSBEIJING -- Chinese police detained almost 2,000 people in a nationwide sweep on fake drugs, seizing more than $180 million worth of counterfeit products and destroying some 1,100 production facilities, the public security ministry said on Sunday.
The operation, involving around 18,000 police officers, discovered fake or adulterated drugs purporting to deal with illnesses ranging from diabetes to high blood pressure and rabies, the ministry said in a statement on its website (link in Chinese).
The suspects went so far as to advertise their drugs online, in newspapers and on television, and the drugs caused problems ranging from liver and kidney damage to heart failure, it added.
"The criminals' methods were despicable and have caused people to boil with rage," the ministry said.
On Sunday, the ministry released a statement saying it would offer rewards of up to $8,000 for any information about fake drug operations, The New York Times reported.
Read more news from China on Behind The Wall
The Chinese government has repeatedly promised to tighten regulatory systems after safety scandals involving fish, drugs, toys, toothpaste, children's clothes, tires, drugs and milk fortified with melamine, used in the manufacture of tabletops.
But little has been done apart from a few, highly publicized arrests. Tackling the issue has not been helped by China's confused and still developing regulatory environment, corruption and the high profits counterfeiters can rake in.
Earlier this year, Chinese consumers recoiled at stories of drug capsules tainted with chromium, long-term exposure to which can cause serious organ damage.
Striking images from China on PhotoBlog
While it hailed the success of the latest raids, the ministry warned it was too soon to be able to rest on their laurels.
"The crime of making fake drugs is still far from eradicated, and criminals are coming up with new schemes, becoming craftier and better able to deceive," it said.
Chinese students use IV drips while test cramming
The ministry called on consumers to only use above board pharmacies and hospitals and not "easily believe advertisements".
Bloomberg Businessweek reported that as much as 30 percent of drugs in developing countries are counterfeit, with China and India the biggest suppliers of fake drugs, according to World Health Organization estimates.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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I was wondering what they meant on fake drugs
More Chinese junk.
This is what happened to unregulated market, it has been for years until the complaint is too much to handle. Lots of drugs are even found their way to neighbor countries like Vietnam and again the government did nothing for years.
This is why western products are highly regarded simply because they are less likely to be fakes and have come from regulated companies.
This is why I am so adamant against less regulation in the US, I don't want to see what happened in Vietnam to happen here as well.
It disturbs me when someone says the government over regulates. We have a government of the people by the people. It is the people's regulations and laws.
If this isn't true then stand up and be heard!
At least the Chinese are trying ...... When are we going to begin to insure our own citizens that the chemo drugs we take are real?
Fake chemo drugs are a 35 billion dollar industry in the US .. none of us that are taking chemo drugs have any real assurance that they are real ... The chemo drug I take cost $400 in the US and their is no guarantee that its even "real!" .. In Canada I can obtain the "Real" drug for $5 ... and jet I cant bring it across the border ..
Horay for the Chinese government ... at least they are trying!
Drugs contain a specific set of ingredients to affect certain ailments. If you change some of those ingredients or lower the proper quantity per pill and substitute it with something that does not belong in it. Like cocain dealers cut their drug with all sorts of things just to maximize profit. Well what if your pain killer was pure rat poison or your diabetic drug was flour? The painkiller you'd probably notice, but the diabetic drug may take a while to notice and may hurt you or kill. How about saline solution substituted for insulin? I saw a docu years ago how they were counterfeiting eggs, even sdown to the clear egg white and the bright yellow egg yolk in fake shells. I mean I thought they would be more expensive but I guess not. Fake car parts, fake airplane parts fake weapons, etc....maybe fake body parts for transplant next...sounds improbable? Haha...they'll take you to the cleaners then. Stand up and say no to Chinese imports!!! I'm not even American. We have the same problem here in Canada though.
@ Cuong - I don't have much of a problem with regulation in the drug industry, but we have other industries that are way over regulated. To the point of stupidity, and wasted money. We are all at the mercy of the drug industry.
Don't want to insult anybodies intelligence here, just some added info. The US Drug Co.s BY law are allowed to charge high rates for a period of time to recoup expenses spent on testing and what ever else is required by the Government for them to do before it can get Government Approval.
CoungNguyen- I begged to differed buddy. The reason you see so much fake medicine in the 3rd world is because most American brands want ridiculous prices on their drugs. Most people in the US everyday chose between meds and paying the rent. The pharmaceutical industry is nothing more than a racket. In the last 25years..they have spent 10X more on marketing than research...just pushing crap for made up disease that most people don't need drugs for.
I used to live in Vancouver BC as a grad student from Seattle. I would get my pills fill up there for half the price here...and if you buy into that notion that it's unsafe..that's just more bovine PR they are expelling to justify their gouging. Plus I had a partnership in an online med store and we got our drugs from US manufacturers where we just kept it at a bonded warehouse and re-import it stateside and sell it for a higher profits.
Lastly, I don't like the idea of less regulations because if you go to 3rd world country such as Vietnam and China, antibiotics is sold over the counter like candies..leading to drug resistancy. Lastly, if you look at all the class action lawsuits you will understand that lot of those meds were put onto the market way too early.
Maybe you think we need less regulations so that more pill mills can sell more oxycontin and destroy this country at the taxpayers' expense...One of the biggest opponents of marijuana legalization is big pharma..because they have the most to lose! There's a reason why a pill of painkiller is worth more than a gram of pot!!
The Chinese would poison their mother if there was money to be made.
Why we do business with them is beyond me. Our business and political leaders sold us out to the communists for an extra dime of profit a long time ago while proclaiming their patriotism.
With the rapid increase in the "Bath Salts" epidemic and especially in my area, I emailed the TV News reporter who has been doing regular reporting on the subject. I asked a simple question of her: "WHERE do these drugs (chemicals) come from?" Her answer?......CHINA! I then emailed back and asked her WHY wasn't this fact reported on in her reports?.......I never got a response..
I guess China's intent is to slowly kill their adversaries with tainted drugs, foods, bad tires, lead filled children's toys, caustic sheet rock and on and on and on...........
Why use bullets, bombs or rockets when the stupid American public (with the help of our greedy corporations) just sit and TAKE IT; literally allowing it to be 'shoved down their throats' by a government MORE worried about American Corporate profits and APPEASING the yellow horde politically than the American people they are SUPPOSED to serve. We don't need a cure for Cancer as much as we need a "CURE" for China on the short term. The Chinese WILL take as much advantage of the stupid (Chinese Perception) American Consumer as they possible can.
Harry Truman should have NUKED the bastards as soon as the horde crossed into North Korea in the '50's............. MacArthur had it right. Truman changed history with his blunder. Now WE have to live (die) with it.
i guess the fake doctors won't have anything to give to their patience's for their fake ailment's...
CHINA.....where do I begin? First we buy all their junk products, then we borrow back all the monies we paid them & pay interest....hmmm. My mother died in Dec 2007 from the tainted heparin that the US imported from China. They have sent sooo many bad products to the US & elsewhere because they are corrupt & they have no system in place to deter the inferior products. It truly is a terrorism act!!! The Chinese govt should be ashamed, but they are just taking their time to seize the China of the west (the US) by their greedy deeds. Google China, & tainted products, it will amaze you & make you think before you buy anything made in China.
Where's Waldo.....You nailed it! The fools on the hill feel like they can't bite the hand from which they borrow, they're too busy stealing from us that they can't let go of the Chinese & their funds they borrow. The latest I read about, wait for it....cocaine tainted with asbestos. Now you really have to think on this one. WHY go after our down & out addicts? Because, that will cripple our already limped out health care system. The ONE thing you don't want is to breathe in asbestos, what better way to get rid of "their" waste? Mix it in cocaine, ship it to the US, & make money on it....wickedly evil & smart all at once.....wake up America!
Do you think ANY FAKE DRUGS are being shipped to or arriving in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?
YES YES YES YES AND YES.
Erin Brockovich should be all over this!
This is why I would never get a prescription filled at wal mart.
Well, well, the Chinese are finally being honorable - Will wonders never cease?
It has happened for decades, they simply just take actions now because there are so much damage.
Unregulated market at its best, coming near you.
It's not just Wal-Mart, any discount drug sales place, I'm not going to mention any names here, I think you have a brain. Even if your paying top dollar for the real thing, Made in America, I have to ask this, How do we know we are getting what we are paying for, with so many dishonest people, even in our own country?
This isn't to help anyone but the Chinese. These drugs are almost all for Chinese consumption. If it only hurt foreigners they would do nothing like intellectual copyright laws. They are starting to have large protests almost everyday due to illegal land confiscations, ecological damage, and corruption. The Communist party has to at least look like they are doing something.
If you buy drugs on the internet (Viagara is one because guys do not like to ask for it in the local drug store) You have no idea what is in them what dirty little sweat shop they are made in or what country they are from. The Chinese would poison their own Mothers to make a profit.
I admit that I lack sufficient facts to intelligently comment, but I cannot help but wonder how China cracks down on "snake oil" salesmen but has no problem sending adulterated food products the the United States.
"Earlier this year Chinese consumers recoiled at stories of drug capsules tainted......."
Looks like China doesn't have a problem with sending tainted product for export, only has a problem with tainted product for domestic consumption.
The investigation was triggered over concerns by Chinese consumers, not American consumers.
Good point CPO!
The ease with which China can send and distribute tainted products here is an old story!
Your (and my) government can't stop it because the Feds won't bolster the the front line agencies tasked with protecting our nation's food supply and other products. The FDA can only test much less than One Percent of imported fish from China-land..... not enough help. A certain political party just hates ALL regulations so the FDA gets hamstrung.
I hope the Chinese show the world how to deal with such trash.
I hope the Chinese kill the counterfeiters in a public form, take their home, cars and anything of value. Put their children in orphanages.
Erect billboards, telling the country and the world that you will lose your life and everything you work for.
If you work for the counterfeiters in any capacity, you will die.
I have long noticed that whether it's products to the U.S.--anything from food to lead based toys, or now products within their own country, or even in sports, the Chinese tend to cheat. For me, they've long felt completely untrustworthy.
@ Gil-2872519 has no problem sending adulterated food products the the United States... this is because this time it's affecting THEM, not us.
I've always said not to buy anything from China of food, cosmetics or anything you put on or in your body. Even the junk they make never lasts. Doesn't take any brains to figure this out. Just by looking at the products tells you how crummy they are. And yet, we borrowed money from them? Something is off here, isn't it?
Hey Judsi,,, I have been saying this for years,every time you buy at walmart you put food on a chinese table and put an American out of work, Smarten up America, and that goes for the rest of the world too.
This is a reason for US citizens demand that their medication is made in the USA. This is a common problem from China and other countries a few year back Panama bought liquid part of cough medicine from China that was certified by the Chinese government it was supposed to be Propylene Glycol instead it was Polypropylene Glycol better know as Anti=Freeze it killed a lot of people before it was discovered why people were dying because they had colds.
Haha, the chinese don't have the innovative spirit I guess. They also won't take a product and improve upon it which would gain them respect. They just take a product and make a half assed copy. One that can kill tens of thousands. I wonder when they cant take over the US and Canada if they will just copy them. They will be crappy copies but copies nonetheless. Another example of snake oil salesmen, that's okay cuz they get their own in the end. Hopefully in their end while in jail.
Now where am I gonna get my fresh Powered Panda Liver...?
Since Romney sent our jobs to China, maybe if he gets elected he will send our druggies and pushers to China .....I'm sure THEY will try to rehabilitate them, and give them counseling, public assistance, and the "it isn't your fault, your are just sick" attitude.....THEN they will execute them.
Love the way China handles their "druggies"...In the USA, we give them money, educate them, give them Section 8 housing, and free medical care.
And we wonder why this country is so f-ck-d up.
Vice President Joe Biden went to China earlier this year and promised Them more jobs..
Nice try at The Spin.
Iamnotyou:
HAH Hey, you gotta get rid of that Fox News channel.....And what the heck does any of this that you stated have to do about drugs. Are you a Glenn Beck relative?
Some local Chinese government official, probably in law enforcement, didn't get his scheduled payoff bribe. This is what happens in China and Russia when you don't pay protection money on time or to the right people.
Given China's deep-seeded culture of corruption plus their disinterested regulation of fake drugs (not to mention attention span to fake everything), this crack-down can only mean one thing -- that very high ranking members of the political ruling elite (or members of their family) have recently become ironic victims of fake drugs and now those hapless politicians are exacting a personal level of revenge across the spectrum of fake drugs. For why else would China suddenly take an interest in such a potent and enterprising sector in their "developing" economy? Now added to their Capitalism learning curve is the maxim: What goes around comes around.
Yea over in china they wouldn't put with these left wing nuts ....they would be in prison...also those race baiters would be in prison too.
Why doesn't China go after the fake Apple products or the fake handbags?
Because those products don't kill people. Whereas with pharmaceuticals, someone in the ruling elite had to become an ironic victim for this level of unprecedented governmental crack-down.
OK, let the Chineese take their own meds, put Americans back to work here in American Pharma's
DON'T OUTSOURCE ANY JOB
Bloomberg Businessweek reported that" as much as 30 percent of drugs in developing countries are counterfeit, with China and India the biggest suppliers of fake drugs, according to World Health Organization estimates."
And our extremely corrupt, bought and paid for congress continues to import all of this crap from china because Obama is afraid to stand up to toxic china, and our corrupt congress is bought and paid for by these creeps in china.
What a great country we live in, the congress is so corrupt they don't know if they wiped their butts this morning.
And our bought and paid for senators are right behind them.
All of the politicians in washington are so corrupt and crooked it stinks.
Fake drugs? I noticed this lately when going to the local head shop. FAKE POT! How are we allowing this to happen? These people are trying to wreck our economy with phony weed. This is outrageous and heads will roll! This is why I always say "Buy American", because all of the imported and fake weed is crap and Americans know how to grow the best weed in the world. Hundred, if not thousands of people are buying this junk, going home and rolling a fattie, expecting to relax and enjoy their buzz, only to be very disappointed that it's not real.
I don't care what they do to fish, drugs, toys, toothpaste, children's clothes, tires, drugs and milk fortified with melamine, used in the manufacture of tabletops, just don't send that Chinese rope weed here!
And don't even get me started with the Mexican Drug Cartels, because the people who smoke that junk, should be jailed for stupidity, that way the Cartels profits evaporate overnight. If the US Government would simply give some of the American Homegrown that they confiscate, to the people in the Southwest, they would eliminate the Cartels power, and instead of burning tons of valuable commodities, they would go directly to the American people, its a win-win situation (kind of like Food Stamps for stoners.......maybe Weed Stamps?)
If China were to crack down on fake products... they'd be out of business.
More likely, knowing China, these places were simply not paying their proper percentage to the regime, so they were seized. That's how it works there. You go into business, you make money, you give it to the government, they decide how much you can keep... oh $hit, this is starting to sound a lot like our own IRS....
So they'll fake genuine pharmaceuticals but hunt down and kill endangered species for an authentic pair of testicles?
China is not known for leniency; i think China may be on the verge of executing 2000 people....
Do you think ANY FAKE DRUGS are being shipped to or arriving in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?
YES YES YES YES AND YES.
Well with China's legal system it will be a busy few months for the execution vans. I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing. Just saying.
This is a start. Now the Chinese government needs to confiscate all the illegal elephant ivory, rhino horns and gorilla hands and feet being sold as 'medicine' in all the apothecary shops across their country -- then prosecute the people in possession of them, as well as their suppliers.
Now they are making counterfeit drugs.... Cheeky Chinese people...
if the prices for drugs in the USA were more affordable there wouldn't be any profit in faking drugs.thanks big drug companies...