Society

Drug suspected in rash of eye problems

By Wang Hongyi (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-11 08:06

SHANGHAI - The Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau denied media reports on Friday that 55 patients had gone blind after being given injections at a local hospital.

A patient, who is among the 55 people suffering adverse reactions after receiving injection treatment in Shanghai No 1 People’s Hospital, rests in his ward on Friday. [China Daily]

Media reports on Friday said around 80 patients had experienced pain and exhibited negative symptoms, including red eyes and unclear vision, after receiving injections of Avastin at the Shanghai No 1 People's Hospital on Wednesday afternoon.

Avastin is an imported medicine used in the treatment of cancer.

According to the local reports, 55 patients out of the 80 subsequently went blind.

"No one has become blind after being given the injection. These reports are not correct," Song Guofan, an official from the health bureau, told China Daily.

"The hospital received 61 patients who had adverse reactions after using the drug. So far, 56 patients have recovered and some of them will be released from hospital very soon," he said.

According to the health bureau, a total of 116 patients were injected with the drug on Monday and Wednesday. After hearing about the adverse reactions, the hospital immediately contacted all other patients.

The bureau has established a special working team to treat patients displaying negative symptoms.

Avastin, the trade name of bevacizumab, was marketed by the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche. It received its first approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2004 for combination use with standard chemotherapy medicines for metastatic colon cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

It was also approved by the FDA for use in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer in 2008, but in July this year, the FDA indicated that some agency researchers were questioning Avastin's value in treating breast cancer and suggested it might even cause serious side effects in some patients, earlier media reports said.

So far, Avastin has not been approved for use in the treatment of eye diseases, though reports said it has been effective in the treatment of macular degeneration and has been used in many countries.

Officials from Shanghai's health bureau said the organization is investigating the cause of the incident and will be testing the injection reagents and the usage of the drug.

The Ministry of Health is also working with the State Food and Drug Administration and investigating the incident, Deng Haihua, spokesman of the ministry, said on Friday.

"Our company is trying to find out what is happening and making further investigation in this case and the investigation result will be announced to the public," a woman surnamed Liu, from the Shanghai Roche Pharmaceutical Company's PR department, was quoted by Beijing-based Mirror Evening News as saying on Friday.

The Shanghai No 1 People's Hospital could not be reached for comment on Friday.