Oral arsenic works magic

A research team assembled from the Department of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine and Queen Marry Hospital have developed an oral arsenic trioxide effective for treating leukemia patients.

The team said the toxic effects of arsenic were overcome in tests, through appropriate dosing. More than 100 patients have been treated under the program. Researchers say the results have been excellent. The use of oral arsenic has replaced bone marrow transplantation as the standard treatment for patients in the test. Orally administered arsenic has also been used in the treatment of other blood cancers, including lymphomas and myeloma.

A US patent has been secured. It's the first time for a drug developed entirely in Hong Kong to attain global status as a prescription medication.

Session aims to placate firemen

The Fire Services Department will hold three question-and-answer sessions with frontline firemen on March 31, April 2 and 3 to discuss thorny issues that include lack of adequate gear, said Chiu Sin-chung, chairman of the Fire Services Department Staffs General Association.

No fireman has so far expressed the wish to withdraw from union membership, Chiu added.

Earlier, a man who identified himself as a colleague of Yeung Chun-kit, the senior fireman who died in a Cheung Sha Wan factory fire this month, called a radio show to criticize Chiu for hastily concluding Yeung's death had nothing to do with gear inadequacy. The caller said he intended to quit the union.

DoH confirms drug contamination

The Department of Health (DoH) announced Thursday that initial testing findings suggest that the banned cancer-causing drug phenolphthalein and the anti-obesity drug sibutramine were detected in the popular proprietary Chinese medicine Po Chai Pills capsules.

DoH officials Thursday immediately conducted a field investigation in Li Chung Shing Tong (Holdings) Ltd, a licensed manufacturer of the proprietary Chinese medicine, after the department issued a recall of Po Chai Pills Capsule Form and Po Chai Pills Bottle Form. Regulatory authorities in Singapore earlier found phenolphthalein and sibutramine in the capsule form.

A DoH spokesman said the source of contamination was likely to be in one batch of powder form raw materials used to fill capsules.

2nd sandstorm to bypass city

The second wave of sandstorms predicted to hit North China probably will not affect Hong Kong, said the Director of the Hong Kong Observatory Lee Boon-ying.

Thanks to rain and a change in wind direction, the chance of another surge in air pollution is low, he explained.

HK$1.4m fund for drought victims

The Hong Kong government has approved a HK$1.4 million relief fund for drought victims in Guangxi and Yunnan provinces.

The application for the grant from the Disaster Relief Fund came from the Amity Foundation, which was required to submit an evaluation report and audited account on the use of the grant upon the completion of its relief project.

China Daily

(HK Edition 03/26/2010 page1)