Regulator 'in collusion' with fake medicine shop
By Wang Qingchu |
August 30, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Food and Drug Administration of an east China city has launched an investigation into allegations its district branch arranged a private settlement between a whistleblower and a seller of fake drugs.
The FDA of Jianggan District in Hangzhou, provincial capital of Zhejiang Province, was said to have arranged an agreement between the drug store and Gao Jingde, an activist in the fight against counterfeit drugs, the Beijing Times reported yesterday.
Under the settlement, the store in Hangzhou would pay 1,200 yuan (US$188)compensation to Gao, and the district FDA would give him a 4,300 yuan reward for providing tip-offs.
In return Gao was asked to drop all complaints against the store. The district FDA encouraged both sides to reach the deal and even affixed a seal to the agreement as a witness, Gao told the newspaper.
He added: "The FDA is a law enforcement body. Why did it become an accomplice to a seller of fake drugs."
Mo Qinglan, director of the district FDA, said the agreement was drafted as a way to solve social conflicts. But he denied the FDA abused its power or acted as an accomplice to the fake drug seller.
Gao, 43, took up the fight against fake drugs after he once had a serious allergic reaction to counterfeit medicines.
He lodged complaints six times with the district FDA during the last two months of 2009, claiming several products were on sale in the store advertised as medicines.
They also contained several types of banned substance, according to the Beijing Times.
The district FDA seized the products but did not issue punishment against the store, claiming the investigation continues.
The provincial FDA has ordered its Hangzhou authority to start an investigation. Wu Ningyi, deputy director of Zhejiang Provincial FDA, said the district branch made "an extremely low-level mistake."
The FDA of Jianggan District in Hangzhou, provincial capital of Zhejiang Province, was said to have arranged an agreement between the drug store and Gao Jingde, an activist in the fight against counterfeit drugs, the Beijing Times reported yesterday.
Under the settlement, the store in Hangzhou would pay 1,200 yuan (US$188)compensation to Gao, and the district FDA would give him a 4,300 yuan reward for providing tip-offs.
In return Gao was asked to drop all complaints against the store. The district FDA encouraged both sides to reach the deal and even affixed a seal to the agreement as a witness, Gao told the newspaper.
He added: "The FDA is a law enforcement body. Why did it become an accomplice to a seller of fake drugs."
Mo Qinglan, director of the district FDA, said the agreement was drafted as a way to solve social conflicts. But he denied the FDA abused its power or acted as an accomplice to the fake drug seller.
Gao, 43, took up the fight against fake drugs after he once had a serious allergic reaction to counterfeit medicines.
He lodged complaints six times with the district FDA during the last two months of 2009, claiming several products were on sale in the store advertised as medicines.
They also contained several types of banned substance, according to the Beijing Times.
The district FDA seized the products but did not issue punishment against the store, claiming the investigation continues.
The provincial FDA has ordered its Hangzhou authority to start an investigation. Wu Ningyi, deputy director of Zhejiang Provincial FDA, said the district branch made "an extremely low-level mistake."
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