A hospital and three pharmaceutical companies were yesterday ordered to pay compensation for their involvement in a fake drug scandal in 2006, which led to the deaths of 14 people.

The Guangzhou Tianhe district court ruled that the Heilongjiang-based Qiqihar No 2 Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Health Care Goods Co, and Guangzhou Jinhengyuan Medicine Trading Co, had each played a part in the deaths and ordered them to pay a combined 3.5 million yuan ($510,000) to 11 plaintiffs.

In April, the Guangzhou People's Intermediate Court sentenced five employees of Qiqihar No 2 Pharmaceutical Co Ltd to jail terms of between four and seven years for their roles in the scandal.

In April 2006, 13 patients at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou died of kidney failure after being given the drug manufactured by the Qiqihar company. Sixty others became sick after taking the medicine.

A 14th victim died in January of this year, 20 months after being treated with the drug.

Eleven plaintiffs - nine relatives of people who died and two former patients who fell ill after taking the drug - filed a civil law suit against the four defendants in March of last year, accusing them of producing and selling counterfeit drugs.

The court ruled yesterday that Qiqihar company was "mostly responsible" for the deaths, but said the other defendants were also partly to blame.

The plaintiffs can now demand compensation from any of the defendants, although if the hospital, Guangdong Health Care Goods or Guangzhou Jinhengyuan Medicine is made to pay, they can then demand equivalent compensation payments from Qiqihar company. The compensation was calculated to cover the plaintiffs' medical expenses and damages for mental suffering, the court said.

Each plaintiff will receive between 7,100 yuan and 660,000 yuan. The range of payments reflects the individual circumstances of each and the degree to which the drug was found to have contributed to the victims' deaths or illness, it said.

The judgement will go into effect in 18 days' time unless an appeal is filed within 15 days of the ruling, the court said.

Chen Beiyuan, the attorney for one of the plaintiffs, said: "This is the highest compensation we could have achieved under the existing law."

However, he said he expects the state judicial authority to enact a new compensation standard in the future, which will allow plaintiffs to claim much higher payments and also serve as a better deterrent against such practices.

"I hope a more comprehensive safety law is introduced as soon as possible," Chen said.

(China Daily June 27, 2008)