Society

17 babies injected with expired medicine

By Chen Xin and Li Anna (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-27 07:24

Harbin - A total of 17 measles-plagued babies were injected with expired medicine in a hospital in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, local health authorities said on Wednesday.

According to a release from the Harbin public health bureau, the babies have all been examined by doctors, who determined that they did not suffer any adverse reactions.

Qu Naifang, deputy director of the Harbin Hospital for Infectious Diseases, pledged to be accountable for the incident.

The hospital said they suspended the medication of the expired Inosine and glucose injections produced by Jiangsu Chenpai Pharmaceutical Co immediately after the incident was exposed on Monday. The expiration date of those intravenous drips was October 2009.

Xu Pengfei, a pediatric doctor with China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing, said if the expired medicine had spoiled, it could cause an unfavorable effect.

"It's hard to tell because different patients have different reactions to drugs," he said. "But such an incident should not occur in hospitals."

The hospital attributed the incident to nurses who mixed the expired medicines with fresh ones. Three nurses were laid off, the charge nurse was dismissed from her post and two hospital officials were reprimanded.

Families of some babies who were not included in the 17-baby name list believed that their children had also been injected with the expired medicine, which led to a deterioration of their children's health.

Pu Guangbin, a 37-year-old farmer from Tonghe County in Heilongjiang, told China Daily that his 6-month-old son died in the hospital last Thursday, two days after the baby was admitted to the hospital.

Pu, who could not show the bottle of the expired mediation, insisted that his baby was injected with the expired medicine.

"I want an explanation from the hospital," Pu said, sobbing.

Zhang Yong, 42, a farmer from Harbin, said his 9-month-old daughter was admitted to the hospital last Friday, and was then transferred to the intensive care unit two days later.

"The doctor told me this Tuesday morning that my daughter was facing life-threatening danger, and that she would die at any time," he said, near tears.