China finds contaminant in heparin exports to U.S.

BEIJING (Reuters) -

China has identified a contaminant in batches of blood-thinner heparin supplied by a U.S.-owned plant in China for export to the United States that has been linked to serious reactions and deaths.

It is the latest in health scares involving Chinese exports in recent months which have ranged from food and drugs to toothpaste and pet food.

China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) said that the contaminant was "basically the same" as that found by U.S. health regulators in batches of Baxter International Inc's blood-thinner heparin.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday said it had identified "over-sulfated chondroitin sulfate" in Baxter's drug, and was investigating whether the chemical was purposely or inadvertently added during manufacturing in China.

Last month Baxter recalled most if its U.S. supplies of heparin, used in kidney dialysis as well as heart and other surgeries to prevent blood clots.

Chondroitin sulfate is widely sold as a dietary supplement to treat joint pain. The over-sulfated version is not know to occur naturally and therefore likely was chemically modified, an FDA official said on Wednesday.

The FDA is probing whether the contaminant is the cause of up to 19 deaths and hundreds of serious breathing problems and other reactions reported in the United States.

FDA officials said chemically manipulating chondroitin sulfate, which is widely available from animal sources, would be cheaper than getting raw heparin from pig intestines.

China's drug watchdog confirmed the contaminant had been found in batches of heparin supplied by a China-U.S. joint venture plant in Changzhou to Baxter.

The FDA on March 5 said it had found a "heparin-like" contaminant in some of the drug's active ingredient supplied to Baxter by a plant in Changzhou owned by Wisconsin-based Scientific Protein Laboratories.

The plant was "one link in a long production chain of heparin," Xinhua news agency quoted the SDFA as saying in a report on Wednesday.

Scientific Protein Laboratories earlier said a consultant working for the plant had concluded the contaminant was not linked to the plant's production but likely occurred earlier in the supply chain.

Baxter, in a statement, also said the contamination had occurred before it reached SPL.

The FDA has received 785 reports of heparin infections, including 19 deaths in patients treated with some brand of heparin. Baxter has said only four deaths may be related to its heparin and there is not enough information to say the drug was the cause.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080320/hl_nm/heparin_dc_1

China and Burma should learn from this kind of decency.

Don't be afraid to let people speak their opinions!

China to crack down on singers after Bjork outburst

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will tighten its controls over foreign singers and other performers after Icelandic singer Bjork shouted "Tibet! Tibet!" at a Shanghai concert last weekend, the Ministry of Culture said on Friday.

Bjork chanted the name of the Chinese-ruled Himalayan region after performing her song "Declare Independence", which she has used in the past to promote independence movements in other places such as Kosovo.

The performance "not only broke Chinese laws and regulations and hurt the feelings of Chinese people, but also went against the professional code of an artist," the ministry said in a statement quoted by the official Xinhua news agency.

"Any attempt to separate Tibet from China will definitely be opposed by the Chinese people and all righteous men across the world."

The ministry said it would investigate the concert and handle the matter according to the law. It did not elaborate.

Bjork said on her Web site that her references to independence were more personal than political, but she added:

"The fact that it has translated to its broadest meaning, the struggle of a suppressed nation, gives me much pleasure. I would like to wish all individuals and nations good luck in their battle for independence."

The Free Tibet Campaign, a British-based organization which calls for an end to China's rule of Tibet, issued a statement saying it was delighted by Bjork's performance.

"She's shown more courage than politicians like (British Prime Minister) Gordon Brown and (British Foreign Secretary) David Miliband, whose public silence on these issues during recent trips to China is a source of shame for the British people," the campaign said.

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia and Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)