TCM maker sued again over toxic ingredient
By Xu Chi |
January 30, 2013, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TRADITIONAL Chinese medicine maker, the Yunnan Baiyao Group, has been sued by a lawyer in central China's Hunan Province for concealing an alleged toxic ingredient in its signature product from consumers.
The lawyer, Luo Qiulin, said that he found the toxic ingredient, radix aconiti agrestis, from the English instruction of the medicine Yunnan Baiyao being sold in the United States, news website Caijing.com.cn reported.
The ingredient is a toxic herb also known as gelsemium elegan, or "heartbreak grass", according to the Rules of Toxic Drugs for Medical Use, issued by the State Council.
In China, the medicine maker refuses to list any of its ingredients in the Chinese instruction claiming the formula is a "state secret". Luo said the group has violated consumers' right to know the ingredients of the medicine and damaged their "personal dignity", the website said.
It is not the first time that Yunnan Baiyao has been taken to court for not revealing its ingredients. In 2009, Zhao Yin, a lawyer in Beijing, sued the group after he took the medicine and suffered allergies.
In that case, the lawyer sued the group, also for violating consumer rights, but lost the lawsuit as the court agreed the group's formula is under protection as a state secret.
According to the database of the website of China's State Food and Drug Administration, Yunnan Baiyao medicine and capsule are listed under first rank protection from 1995 to 2015.
Yunnan Baiyao is natural herbal medicine used for healing wounds and pain relief, according to the group's official website.
Doctors said high doses of the toxic herb can cause dizziness, nausea or even death.
The lawyer, Luo Qiulin, said that he found the toxic ingredient, radix aconiti agrestis, from the English instruction of the medicine Yunnan Baiyao being sold in the United States, news website Caijing.com.cn reported.
The ingredient is a toxic herb also known as gelsemium elegan, or "heartbreak grass", according to the Rules of Toxic Drugs for Medical Use, issued by the State Council.
In China, the medicine maker refuses to list any of its ingredients in the Chinese instruction claiming the formula is a "state secret". Luo said the group has violated consumers' right to know the ingredients of the medicine and damaged their "personal dignity", the website said.
It is not the first time that Yunnan Baiyao has been taken to court for not revealing its ingredients. In 2009, Zhao Yin, a lawyer in Beijing, sued the group after he took the medicine and suffered allergies.
In that case, the lawyer sued the group, also for violating consumer rights, but lost the lawsuit as the court agreed the group's formula is under protection as a state secret.
According to the database of the website of China's State Food and Drug Administration, Yunnan Baiyao medicine and capsule are listed under first rank protection from 1995 to 2015.
Yunnan Baiyao is natural herbal medicine used for healing wounds and pain relief, according to the group's official website.
Doctors said high doses of the toxic herb can cause dizziness, nausea or even death.
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