Fwd: China lawsuit on aristolochia

[Guest guest]

the plot thickens.

 

 

 

 

> " Robert Newman " <plantboy

> Sat Apr 17, 2004 5:36:22 AM US/Pacific

> <

> China lawsuit on aristolochia

>

> Hello Todd--perhaps you saw this or heard about this already.....just

> thought you might find it interesting......someone had sent it to me a

> little while back.  Robert Newman

>

> Fwd: China lawsuit on aristolochia

>

> From The Standard (China business newspaper)

> 100 to sue over liver tonic

> by

>

> Olivia Chung

> At least 100 consumers are preparing to sue China's oldest and

> best-known traditional medicine group for selling a liver tonic that

> they allege led to kidney damage, in what could be one of the

> country's first class-action suits and a test of a new compensation

> programme created by the Supreme People's Court.

>

> To make the suit doubly rare, lawyers for the mainland-based Beijing

> Weiheng law firm said they are considering adding China's State Food

> and Drug Administration (SFDA) as a defendant in the case, expected to

> be filed against China Tong Ren Tang Group, the parent of Hong Kong

> GEM-listed Tong Ren Tang Technologies.

>

> If the case is filed, it would be China's first in which masses of

> consumers take an enterprise to court, illustrating the growing

> consumer awareness that is increasingly revolutionising the country as

> incomes rise.

>

> The law firm is moving quickly to take advantage of the new

> compensation programme that takes effect from May.

> ``Under the new compensation programme, victims can seek damages for

> pain and suffering in addition to direct medical costs and lost

> wages,'' Zhang Zhidong, an assistant with the law firm, said.

>

> Zhang said the number of consumers joining the lawsuit is continuing

> to snowball.

> China Tong Ren Tang replaced the herb caulis aristolochiae

> manshurienses in its liver treatment Longdan Xieganwan in 2002. The

> substance was banned in 2000 by the Hong Kong Department of Health.

>

> The United States Food and Drug Administration issued a warning

> against aristolochic acid, an ingredient in the herb, on May 31, 2000,

> saying that prolonged use of the substance could result in kidney

> damage severe enough to require either transplants or haemodialysis.

> Use of the drug has resulted in kidney damage to hundreds, if not

> thousands, of consumers, the law firm alleges.

>

> ``Our law firm has received five to six inquiries each day regarding

> joining the lawsuit since we first announced in a press conference

> last month that we are representing dozens of patients who have

> suffered kidney damage,'' Zhang said.

>

> ``As Tong Ren Tang is the major Chinese medicine manufacturer and

> retailer and has a large market share in China, it will possibly be

> the first and chief defendant in the lawsuit,'' he added. ``Given that

> a large number of Chinese medicine makers are involved, I believe the

> whole issue will have a big impact on the Chinese medicine industry.''

>

> Li Xiaolin, a lawyer with the firm, told reporters he hopes the

> lawsuit will result in regulation of the traditional medicine

> industry, including improved product label regulation.

>

> Zhang said the law firm had sent a letter to Tong Ren Tang after last

> month's press conference, asking for compensation for the victims

> because of the company's failure to list the questionable component on

> the liver drug label. ``So far we have only got a response that the

> senior management level would review the incident seriously,'' he > said.

>

> Zhang said the case involves a prolonged period of use.

> ``Before Tong Ren Tang used other herbs to replace

>

> caulis aristolochiae manshurienses in Longdan Xieganwan after

> discovering the possible damage the herb might cause, it did not list

> the herb on the liver drug label, which led to some Chinese medicine

> practitioners' continuing to prescribe it to their patients and some

> people's prolonged use of the drug,'' he said.

>

> Zhang said the drug's victims, ranging in age from 20 to 69, had

> suffered different degrees of kidney damage.

> ``The most serious ones are those who lost normal function of both

> kidneys and require transplants,'' he said.

> Jin Yongnian, a spokesman for Tong Ren Tang, said the firm would

> attend the hearing if it is taken to court. He said there was little

> chance that Tong Ren Tang would seek settlement outside court. ``As we

> believe we have done nothing wrong, we will not settle out of court

> with the claimants and we hope we can have a just and fair judgment,''

> he said.

>

> Jin said Longdan Xieganwan's components had been reviewed and approved

> by the SFDA before being sold in the market.

> ``Under the regulations set by the SFDA, we only need to state the

> main components of the liver drug. And

>

> caulis aristolochiae manshurienses is not among the main components.

>

> ``Until now, there is still no scientific evidence proving that

> aristolochic acid is hazardous to people's health,'' he said.

>  

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> Mark Blumenthal

> Founder & Executive Director

> American Botanical Council

> P.O. Box 144345, Austin, TX 78714-4345

> tel: 512-926-4900 fax: 512-926-2345

> email: herbcowboy

> www.herbalgram.org

>

>

 

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