Drug pulled after death of newborn

The Ministry of Health on Sunday ordered hospitals across the country to stop using a herbal remedy suspected of causing the death of a newborn baby and having "adverse effects" on three other infants.

A 9-day-old baby died on Oct 11 at the Zhidan County Hospital in the city of Yan'an, Shaanxi province, after being injected with yinzhihuang, an extract of herbs, including gardenia and honeysuckle, used to treat liver disease and infantile jaundice.

A spokesperson for the health ministry said during a teleconference that three other infants at the hospital had suffered "adverse effects" after receiving the injection, but did not specify any particular symptoms.