Nine people are confirmed to have died after being injected with a fake Armillarisni A drug produced by the Qiqihar No.2 Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, said officials with the Third Hospital Affiliated to the Sun Yat-sen University in south China's Guangdong Province.

Among other symptoms the fake drug damages the kidneys, nervous system and liver. Of the victims five were confirmed dead by May 16. The hospital is the only one in Guangdong that bought the drug. It has identified a total of 64 people who were given it.

Liao Xinbo, vice director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Health, said nine out of 18 people who were being treated with the fake drug were believed to have been killed by it. The other nine may have died of other causes, Liao said.

Five patients who fell ill because of the drug are recovering, said Cai Daozhang, vice president of the hospital.

According to a briefing by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) last week the pharmaceutical company purchased one ton of "propylene glycol" from a drug dealer named Wang Guiping in September 2005. The chemical is used in the production of Armillarisni A injections.

The "propylene glycol" delivered by Wang was in fact "diglycol," an industrial material that can cause acute kidney failure if ingested. The company's quality inspectors failed to notice the error.

Using diglycol, the company produced doses of the injection that is used in the treatment of acute or chronic cholecystitis and chronic and atrophic gastritis.

Drug authorities in Guangdong reported on May 3 that patients being treated with these injections had developed acute kidney failure symptoms, which prompted immediate investigations. Local police in Qiqihar of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province took 14 staff from the manufacturing company into custody after the deaths.

Guangdong officials said Sunday that five officials including the manager, two deputy managers, the inspecting officer and purchasing agent have been taken to Guangzhou as the investigation continues.

Meanwhile, compensation procedures are underway although it has not yet been decided who is ultimately responsible, local press reported.

Liao was quoted as saying the pharmaceutical company could be ordered to pay compensation to the families of people who died or those who were injured by the fake drug. According to him, the hospital did not make any mistakes when treating the patients.

"The hospital was not responsible," he noted.

In another development, the Qiqihar plant had their permission to produce drugs withdrawn on Saturday. Five drugs manufactured by the company had been found to be faked, including the deadly injection fluid, according to sources with the Heilongjiang Provincial Food and Drug Administration.

Meanwhile, SFDA will begin a nationwide drive to regulate the market in medicines. Drug administrations have launched comprehensive checks of raw material purchasing procedures, management of materials and examination of finished products at pharmaceutical factories.

In accordance with Premier Wen Jiabao's instructions, a joint investigation work group left for Heilongjiang Saturday to probe the deaths caused by the fake drug.

(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily May 22, 2006)