Proprietary Chinese medicines containing Aristolochic Acid prohibited

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The Department of Health (DH) reminded members of the public that starting from today (June 1), importation and sale of proprietary Chinese medicines containing Aristolochic Acid (AA) will be prohibited. Application for registration of this kind of products will not be approved.

The decision was discussed by the Chinese Medicines Board of the Chinese Medicine Council earlier and announced by DH on April 24.

A spokesman for DH said, ""DH has instructed the manufacturers of these products to recall the products from the market."

Members of the public who have purchased the products are advised to stop using it, dispose of it or surrender it to the distributors of respective products or the Chinese Medicines Section of DH on 2/F, Public Health Laboratory Centre, 382 Nam Cheong Street, Kowloon, during office hours.

People may call DH at 2319 5119 for enquiries during office hours.

Herbs containing AA is associated with kidney failure and cancer of the urinary tract.

The spokesman said: "DH has not received any adverse reports from the public associated with the use of these products. People are advised to consult Chinese medicine practitioners before taking Chinese medicine."

The following products have been tested by DH and confirmed to contain AA and distributors should cease the importation and sale of these products from June 1 and recall the products from the market:-

Name of Proprietary Chinese Medicine

Name of Manufacturer

Name of Distributor

Telephone Number of Distributor

"HOI PING PAI" REFINED SANSHETAN CHUANPEIMO

GUANGZHOU QIXING PHARMACEUTICAL CO. LTD.

CHINA FEN HIN MEDICINE CO., LTD

2743 3416

HUA TAN COUGH CAPSULES

GUANGZHOU ZHONGYI PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY LIMITED

TAT HONG COMPANY

2393 2989

HERBA ASARI

PURAPHARM (NANNING) PHARMACEUTICALS CO. LTD.

NONG'S COMPANY LIMITED

2840 1840

YISHEN JUANBI WAN

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JACKSON INDUSTRIAL

2511 3707

CHAISENTOMG NASAL

CHAISENTOMG PHARMACEUTICAL FACTORY LTD

2895 2018

FU ZHI LING

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MAN'S CHEUNG HONG

2771 1279

SAN BI TANG-JOINT FORMULA

PURAPHARM (NANNING) PHARMACEUTICALS CO. LTD.

NONG'S COMPANY LIMITED

2840 1840

CHINESE MEDICINE NASAL RESCUE

WAI YUEN TONG MEDICINE CO., LTD

2727 8911

RHEUMATIC PILLS (translation)

LEE HOONG KEE LIMITED

2541 2080

PAK FUNG PILLS (translation)

LEE HOONG KEE LIMITED

2541 2080

SHUNAI ZHIKE HUATAN WAN

BEIJING TONG REN TANG HONG KONG MEDICINE MANAGEMENT LIMITED

2587 8788

HAY FEVER KILLER

TUNG TAK TONG CHINESE MEDICINE MFG. CO., LTD

2545 1551

MINOR BLUE DRAGON COMBINATION

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ACE PHARMACEUTICALS (HK) LIMITED

2753 8818

LING KAN CHIANG WEI HSIN JEN TANG EXTRACT GRANULES

SUN TEN PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD.

3428 2333

MA HUANG FU TZU HIS HSIN EXTRACT GRANULES

SUN TEN PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD.

3428 2333

PU FEI E JIAO SAN EXTRACT GRANULES

SUN TEN PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD.

3428 2333

SONG DAN SEGAN PILLS

HENAN SHIZHEN MEDICINES PRODUCTS CO., LTD

WAH SHUN MEDICINE LIMITED

2571 0775

GENTIANA COMBINATION

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ACE PHARMACEUTICALS (HK) LIMITED

2753 8818

DU ZHONG JIN GU BI TONG WAN

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MING WAH COMPANY

2562 6129

CHUI FONG TOU KU WAN

PO WO TONG MEDICINE FACTORY LTD.

2505 7336

SO HOP PILLS

MA PAK LEUNG CO., LTD

2544 0539

To facilitate Chinese medicine traders to effectively and properly dispose of proprietary Chinese medicines containing AA, DH will provide a central recall service. Between June 1 and 30, traders may send the properly packaged proprietary Chinese medicines products to the Chinese Medicines Section of DH on 2/F, Public Health Laboratory Centre, 382 Nam Cheong Street, Kowloon. DH will collectively dispose of the products.

Ends/Tuesday, June 1, 2004

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