Global recalls: rabies vaccine and Valsartan update
Business & Technology
Associated Press reports:
Investigators found Changchun Changsheng Life Sciences Ltd. had blended expired fluids in its vaccines and falsified records from as early as April 2014, the National Health Commission said in a statement Tuesday. The names of the overseas countries were not given, but the recall indicated the scandal gripping China may have spread to foreign markets.
This recall is for rabies vaccines, and is an extension of the recall first announced in July. News continues to break:
- “Authorities in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province are investigating a case involving a girl injected with an expired rabies vaccine,” according to the Global Times.
- The National Health Commission and the State Drug Administration have announced a “follow-up inoculation plan” for people who received dodgy rabies vaccines, reports Xinhua: “those who have received the vaccines but have not gone through the entire inoculation procedure can continue to receive valid vaccines from other companies for free at vaccination institutions to complete the procedure.”
Over the last few days, we have also been covering recalls of batches of blood pressure treatment Valsartan that contained a carcinogen in ingredients from three Chinese factories.
- The recall is now global. Quartz reports: “The European Union, Taiwan, and South Korea have all issued recalls of their own now, deepening fears that a case of contamination at a Chinese site might be more widespread than previously thought.”
- Pakistan also recalled Valsartan batches, according to the Tribune, which says that Pakistani manufacturers “have been allowed by the drug regulator to restart manufacturing of valsartan products from an alternate source of valsartan Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) after due testing.”
