Recently highlighted Rabies vaccine scandal urged the Chinese government to amend their laws as it fulled public fears over domestically made medicines. A new law has been proposed and according to this law, a person can be charged/fined up to USD 720,000 who falsify test results or break other rules. According to a draft posted on the website of China’s market regulator, the new law would also regulate processes including manufacturing, distribution, and use of vaccines.
Earlier this year, the country shocked by a scandal that saw a manufacturer of rabies vaccines fabricating records and while authorities keep on saying the affected vaccines did not enter the market. This case provoked outrage from consumers fed up with recurring product safety scandals, particularly in medicines.
With the new proposed law, those who break the rules can be fined up to 5.0 million yuan (USD 720,000) for offenses including submitting false test results, not recalling problematic batches and “other serious illegal acts”.
The drafted proposal words are ”those who involved in illegal behavior, shield or connive with violators, hide the facts through fabrication, or impede investigation will receive severe punishment.”
This is the very first time when any Chinese law has explicitly targeted vaccines, which were covered by regulations controlling medicine previously.
The Changchun Changsheng Biotechnology company was slapped by the Chinese authorities with a massive USD 1.3 billion in penalties over the rabies vaccine scandal.
14 people with the firm’s chairwoman were arrested in connection with the affair in July while more than a dozen national, provincial and local officials were sacked, including several senior officials from the drug regulatory agency.
China country hit by scandals involving sub-par or toxic food, drugs, and other products, despite repeated promises by the government to address the problem regularly. But with the rabies vaccine scandal, the Chinese authorities will become more strict and announced a nationwide inspection of laboratories producing vaccines.
Many of Chinese parents accepted that they have lost their trust and no longer have confidence in the pharmaceuticals administered to their children.
