China Announces Recall of Cancer Drugs

Courtney Mills

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Chinese regulatory agencies recalled two drugs used in the fight against leukemia, a blood-borne cancer, out of safety concerns over the weekend. This medical recall is the latest in a series of recalls to plague China and has stirred heated controversy within the country and abroad over what to do about the poor state of quality control of all varieties of consumer goods in China.

The Xinhua Chinese news agency announced over the weekend that the leukemia drugs methotrexate and cytarabine hydrochloride had been compromised during manufacture earlier in the year. This fact had been revealed only after children were injected with doses of methotrexate in July. The compromised batches of methotrexate caused pain and atypical side effects in patients, and this recall was announced initially in late July.

According to the report from Xinhua, factories manufacturing the methotrexate were closed pending the outcome of this investigation. Regrettably, this is just the most recent manufacturing bungle in a series of contaminated product recalls for the industrial giant as it struggles to regain its reputation as a world exporter.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Drugs, Medical Devices, and Implants.