Court shows sympathy and understanding in Clobazam ruling

On Friday, a court ruled that a father who bought the controlled drug Clobazam from overseas to treat his daughter's epilepsy and sold it to other families with children who suffer from epilepsy was granted immunity from criminal punishment.

Zhongmu County People's Court of Henan province heard the case on Friday, it said that the father's, surnamed Hu, acts didn't constitute the crime of smuggling and selling drugs, but the crime of illegal business operation.

Considering the circumstance of the case and its impact on society, the court exempted him from criminal punishment, it said.

The father said in the court that these drugs were not consumer goods, but used to save lives. What he did was not for profit, but to save lives, and to treat his daughter.

Hu comes from Anhui province. In the process of buying medicine for his daughter, he bought Clobazam from overseas and sold it to families with children who suffer from epilepsy.

In July 2021, Hu was detained by police in Zhongmu county on suspicion of smuggling drugs. The local procuratorate approved his arrest in August 2021.

In March 2022, the county court heard Hu's case, and he was charged with purchasing the controlled drug Clobazam and was suspected of smuggling, selling, transporting and manufacturing drugs. The court didn't issue the verdict at that time.

In April 2022, he was allowed to grant bail, pending trial, and he returned to his hometown in Anhui.

Liu Chang, Hu's defense lawyer from Beijing Zhongwen Law firm, said in his WeChat Moment that the verdict of this case reflects the warmth of the judiciary. Despite the conviction, considering that Hu is a family member of the patient and his behavior has a nature of the public interest, he was exempted from criminal punishment, which will help him return to his family as soon as possible and take care of his child.

At the same time, after the first trial of this case, the National Health Commission issued a work plan for the temporary import of related drugs, accelerated the approval of generic drugs, aroused the attention of society and quickly solved the drug use problem for patients with rare epilepsy, which is also one of the social values of this case，Liu said.

In December 2021, the NHC said it was coordinating with relevant agencies and sectoral organizations for the centralized application and import of Clobazam, after Hu's case aroused wide social attention.

In March 2022, the NHC issued a statement saying that, in view of the drug needs of children, it had put forward a list of 50 medical institutions that will take the lead in importing and using Clobazam.

In October 2022, the first Chinese generic version of Clobazam was officially launched.