Chinese Court Jails Four for Fake Medicine

Chinese gang sentenced to jail for selling expired and bogus medications.

According to a story in the Shanghai Daily, four members of a group that sold expired medicine and produced fake prescription drugs without a license were given jail sentences ranging from eleven months to five and a half years yesterday.

According to the Shanghai Daily story:

• The drugs produced by the gang were tested and found to be fake. Fortunately, none of them were sold thanks to quick action by the police.

• The Putuo District People's Court heard that the gang collected expired medicine around the city at low prices and then sold them outside Shanghai, after changing the production and expiration dates on the labels.

• Zhang Dezhi, 45, from Liaoning Province, and Zhang Wenzhong, 48, from Anhui Province, who do not have licenses to sell or produce drugs, began to collect medicines around the city last year, the court heard.

• Police seized more than 3,100 boxes of medicine in Zhang Dezhi's home in Shanghai on February 3 and intercepted more than 20,000 boxes on their way to Shen-yang. They were estimated to be worth around 550,000 yuan (US$82,614).

• Police later confiscated medicine valued at 230,000 yuan from Wang's home in Shenyang, and drugs in Zhang Wenzhong's residence in Shanghai valued at more than 400,000 yuan.

• In addition to collecting and selling the drugs, Zhang Dezhi also produced fake drugs by buying in cheap and inferior medicines and attaching false labels of more expensive brands.

Hopefully this is a sign that as reported previously in Secure Pharma Chain, Chinese officials are becoming proactive and more diligent in aggressively prosecuting a lethal crime that impacts the lives of their population and that they export around the world.

China and India have become the epicenter of a global counterfeit drug issue that is worth billions annually and is estimated to kill and impact the health of millions.

To read the entire Shanghai Daily story, visit: http://english.eastday.com/e/101126/u1a5572554.html

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