Toxic Chinese medicine

[GeneChing]

This really bums me out. I used to use this product a lot.

TCM found to be 'poisonous' in HK sells on mainland
Updated: 2013-02-08 07:38
By Wang Qingyun in Beijing and Kahon Chan in Hong Kong ( China Daily)

Traditional Chinese medicine Yunnan Baiyao has not been recalled on the mainland despite Hong Kong health authorities claiming to have discovered "undeclared" poisonous ingredients in some batches of the product and ordering it to be taken off shop shelves.

The Department of Health of Hong Kong announced on Tuesday that it had tested samples of capsules, powder, plaster, aerosol and tincture of Yunnan Baiyao distributed by wholesaler Fung Wah (Hong Kong) Co, and found they contained "undeclared aconitum alkaloids".

"According to the products' registration details and the Chinese medicine literature, the ingredients in the products cannot account for the presence of aconitum alkaloids as detected," said the department in its statement.

According to the statement, if used improperly, aconitum alkaloids can "cause discomfort, such as numbness in the mouth and limbs, nausea, vomiting and peripheral weakness, and even lead to life threatening conditions such as breathing difficulties and cardiac arrhythmia".

Produced by Yunnan Baiyao Group, a medicine maker in Yunnan province, the product is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine that is effective in stopping bleeding and treating pain in muscles and joints caused by bruises and rheumatism.

The department said although it has not yet received any reports of users suffering adverse effects from the product, it ordered the recall.

Yunnan Baiyao Group confirmed in an online statement on Wednesday that such products contain aconitum alkaloids, but the toxicity is "greatly reduced" after "unique methods of preparation".

The medicine is still available in pharmacies in Beijing. Three stores in the capital's Chaoyang district said they are still selling the medicine over the counter.

"It has always been a solid seller and sales have not been affected," a saleswoman at Hedantang Pharmacy said, adding that she had not heard the news of recall in Hong Kong.

The discovery of the poison has ignited heated public discussion because the ingredients of Yunnan Baiyao are not readily available.

A Yunnan Baiyao tincture purchased in Beijing, one of the products whose samples have been found to contain aconitum alkaloids in Hong Kong, has written on its instructions that its ingredients are "nationally classified", but advises against use by pregnant women and people allergic to alcohol.

The government classified the medicine's formulation and the way it is processed in 1956, and more than 100 million people have used the medicine in the past decade, the company said in a statement.

The State Food and Drug Administration has graded the medicine as "level one" TCM to be protected by the government, and its formulation and preparation are classified until August 2015.

But the administration said it has asked the company to revise the medicine's instructions and keep a close watch on reports of adverse reactions. The administration has also warned the public to only use the medicine under a doctor's instruction.

A Notification Letter for a Statement on a Dietary Supplement, that a California-based distributor filed to the US Food and Drug Administration in June 2002, named the ingredients of a product called Yunnan Baiyao Ding, which claimed to be manufactured by the Yunnan Baiyao Group.

The statement did not include aconitum-related ingredients.

On Jan 17, Luo Qiulin, a lawyer, filed a lawsuit in Hunan province against Yunnan Baiyao, claiming that the company infringed on consumers' dignity and their right to know.

However, Huang Jianyin, undersecretary-general of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies, said it makes sense for Yunnan Baiyao Group to classify its ingredients in order to protect its intellectual property rights.

"The national regulations justify it, and if other medicine makers got its formula, they may make generic medicines and harm the company," he said. "If consumers don't trust Yunnan Baiyao, they can switch to replacements."

With regard to its ingredient statement to the US, Huang said domestic medicine makers need to adjust to laws in other countries in order to get into markets overseas.

In an online survey conducted by Sina, more than 8,600 Internet users said they would use the product despite the incident, accounting for 51 percent of the people polled. Nearly 30 percent said they would not use the products of Yunnan Baiyao.

Contact the writers at wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn and kahon@chinadailyhk.com

Wang Xiaodong and Gao Liangliang contributed to this story.

[GeneChing]

Never tried it. Anyone?

Popular Chinese medicine used for migraines could be FATAL, warn health watchdogs

Zheng Tian Wan is unregulated but available in the UK
Medicine contains herb known as Queen of Poisons
Could be toxic for the heart and nervous system
Experts urge anyone who has taken herb to visit GP

By Rachel Reilly
PUBLISHED: 11:40 EST, 17 April 2013 | UPDATED: 10:45 EST, 18 April 2013



The plant remedy contains aconite a herb once dubbed the 'Queen of Poisons'

A herbal medicine used by alternative practitioners to treat migraines could be fatal.

Zheng Tian Wan is unregulated but is available in the UK, and it has been linked to serious health complications and death, health authorities say.

The plant remedy contains aconite – a herb once dubbed the ‘Queen of Poisons’ by the ancient Greeks - and could be toxic for the heart and nervous system.

The ingredient is on a UK list of restricted herbal ingredients and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have issued a statement warning against using the product.

The MHRA said the issue came to their attention after a herbal practitioner supplied a patient the unlicensed migraine pills, which have not been tested for safety and quality.

The agency said it has previously received three reports of suspected side effects to aconite.

One patient suffered kidney problems, a second was hospitalised after suffering dizziness and paraesthesia (pins and needles) and the third experienced palpitations, aches and pains with shortness of breath but recovered after stopping taking the product.

Andrea Farmer, Herbal policy manager at the MHRA, said in certain circumstances herbal medicines could be extremely dangerous: ‘Herbal medicines can have a very significant effect on the body.

'In certain circumstances, such as when aconite is taken orally, they can be extremely dangerous.

'Natural does not mean safe. To help you choose a herbal medicine that is suitable for you, look for a product that has a Traditional Herbal Registration or product license number on the packaging. These products have met the acceptable quality and safety standards.

'And if you think you have suffered a side effect to an herbal medicine, please tell us about it through our Yellow Card Scheme.'

Websites selling Zheng Tian Wan advertise it as a ‘formula with a thousand year history that stops headache and migraine’.


Experts are urging those who have taken the medicine to visit their doctor

However, MHRA guidelines dictate that aconite should not be used in unlicensed products for oral use and herbal practitioners in the UK are only allowed use aconite externally on unbroken skin.

Products intended for oral use containing aconite are not permitted in the UK without authorisation, while only qualified doctors can prescribe aconite's use in oral medicines, under the prescription-only medicine scheme.

An MHRA spokesman said: 'It's difficult to say how much is out there, because it's a traditional Chinese medicine, so it's not something we regulate.

‘It is also difficult to tell what the levels are in a product without testing it but the fact is, aconite is a particularly toxic product so regardless of the levels we would advice people not to take it.

‘If it was sold online we could have it taken down to have it removed from sale but we do not know where every traditional Chinese practitioner is working.’

They urge anyone who has taken Zheng Tian Wan, which is made by the Shenzhen 999 Chinese Medicine Investment Development Co, or any other aconite-containing product, to speak to their GP or healthcare professionals as soon as possible.

[GeneChing]

If you follow the link, there is a pdf of the Greenpeace study.

View From Asia June 25, 2013, 2:14 am
Study Asks if Tainted Chinese Herbs Are Harming, Not Healing
By SUE-LIN WONG


A farmer from the Miao minority sprays pesticide on his pseudo-ginseng field in Yunnan Province, China.© Simon Lim / Greenpeace A farmer from the Miao minority sprays pesticide on his pseudo-ginseng field in Yunnan Province, China.

BEIJING — Chinese herbal medicine, an ancient tradition that is supposed to heal, may be doing the opposite: is it also harming people’s health and polluting the environment with pesticides, as a Greenpeace study released Monday suggests?

The study, “Chinese Herbs: Elixir of Health or Pesticide ****tail?” tested 65 popular Chinese herbs from nine pharmacies in nine Chinese cities and found 48 tested positive for pesticide residues. Six of the residues (found in 26 of the samples) were from pesticides banned in China, including some the World Health Organization has classified as extremely hazardous. Alarmingly, one pesticide residue was 500 times over the European Union maximum, the study found.

That Chinese traditional herbs are tainted is known here; last year, People’s Daily online posted an article that said, “Don’t let poor quality herbs destroy the practice of traditional Chinese medicine!” The piece went on to describe the severity of pesticide residue and chemical pollution in traditional Chinese medicines.

China’s 600 million farmers use close to two million tons of pesticides each year but the effective utilization rate is only about 30 percent, the Greenpeace study found. The rest turns into hazardous soil, water and air pollution.

Over the past few years, China has spent 21 billion renminbi on genetic engineering research and development, far outstripping the 700 million renminbi spent on ecological farming, the study said.

Health implications from long-term exposure to toxic pesticide levels may include learning difficulties, hormone disruption and reproductive abnormalities, Greenpeace said.

Sometimes drunk as teas, also brewed then dried, powdered and turned into capsule form, traditional Chinese medicine has been used for thousands of years to cure ailments ranging from the common cold to ovarian cysts.

“Chinese herbs are trusted and used as food ingredients for healing purposes by millions of people around the world,” said Jing Wang, an ecological farming campaigner and project leader of the Greenpeace study. “They are an iconic part of our heritage we must preserve. Chinese herbs should heal, not harm people and must be pesticide free.”

China needs to do far more to combat the use of potentially dangerous pesticides in farming and the food chain, Ms. Wang said.

“From when we first started paying attention to this issue of pesticides until now, China hasn’t done much to change agricultural practices,” she said. “If the government were to realize the magnitude of this problem and make it a priority, I believe they would have the ability to improve food safety and reduce the use of pesticides. But at present, we haven’t seen this happen.”

Greenpeace has been warning against pesticides in Chinese foods, drinks and other ingested products for years. Last year, 12 of the 18 tea products it tested were found to contain at least one banned pesticide.

In 2011, it found 35 of 50 vegetables and fruits tested, from major supermarket chains across China, contained pesticides.

[GeneChing]

There is fallout of this in the UK.

Date: 20 August 2013
Time: 10:30
Subject: Warning over dangerous Traditional Chinese Medicines
Contact: Press Office 020 3080 7651
or press.office@mhra.gsi.gov.uk
Out-of-hours 07770 446 189

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is warning people not to use a number of unlicensed Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs) after they were found to contain dangerously high levels of lead, mercury and arsenic.

One product, Bak Foong Pills, which is used for the treatment of menstrual pain, has been recalled in Hong Kong after it was found to contain up to twice the level of lead permitted by the Hong Kong Government.

Another TCM, Hairegenerator, used for the treatment of hair loss, has also been recalled in Hong Kong after a sample was found to contain 11 times the permitted level of mercury.

The Swedish National Food Agency (SFNA) has also found extremely high levels of arsenic in products going by a variety of names. These include Niu-Huang Chieh-tu-pein, Divya Kaishore Guggul and Chandraprabha Vati.

These are used for the treatment of mumps, sore throat, tonsillitis, toothache, skin infections, anorexia and fever in young children.

All of these products are unlicensed and are not authorised for sale in the UK. They have, however, been found to be available on the internet and people are warned to exercise extreme caution when buying unlicensed medicines as they have not been assessed for safety and quality and standards can vary widely.

Richard Woodfield, MHRA’s Head of Herbal Policy said:

“The adulteration of traditional Chinese medicines with heavy metals is a significant international problem and can pose a serious risk to public health.

“Natural does not mean safe. To help you choose an herbal medicine that is suitable for you, look for a product that has a Traditional Herbal Registration (THR) or product licence number on the packaging. These products have met the acceptable quality and safety standards.

“If you think you have taken any of these products please speak to your doctor for advice. If you think you have suffered a side effect from these, or any medicines, please tell us about it through our Yellow Card Scheme.”

Notes to Editor
1. Link to Herbal Safety Alert.

2. Herbal remedies should be used with the same caution and care as any other medicines as their use will have an effect on the body. While many herbal remedies are reasonably safe, it is important to remember that just because a product contains natural ingredients and extracts this doesn’t guarantee it is safe. You should always consult with a pharmacist or doctor to make sure that an herbal remedy is suitable for you to take and will not interact with any other medicines you may be taking.

3. The Traditional Herbal Registration (THR) symbol is a type of trade mark which indicates that an herbal medicine has been registered with the MHRA under the Traditional Herbal Registration (THR) Scheme and meets the required standards relating to its quality, safety, and evidence of traditional use as well as other criteria. Information about herbal medicines regulation.

4. Read about the Yellow Card Scheme.

5. The MHRA is responsible for regulating all medicines and medical devices in the UK by ensuring they work and are acceptably safe. Underpinning all our work lies robust and fact-based judgements to ensure that the benefits justify any risks. The MHRA is a centre of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency which also includes the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) and the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health. www.mhra.gov.uk

[GeneChing]

Those product names say it all really.

'100pc herbal' traditional Chinese medicine contained serious health risk ingredients
Tom Tuite – 01 November 2013

A TRADITIONAL Chinese medicine practitioner believed she had stocked “100 per cent herbal” viagra-like products which turned out to be laced with drugs that carry serious public health risks, a court has heard.

The prosecution at Dublin District Court was brought by the Irish Medicines Board (IMB), which had carried out an inspection at a premises called Dr Acupuncture, at the Nutgrove Shopping Centre, in Rathfarnham.

WDZ Partnership Ltd, which has an address at Henry Street in Dublin, and one of its directors Ms Sonya Hui Wang (aged 36), who resides at Portland Street in Dublin city-centre but is originally from China, pleaded guilty to breaking medicinal products regulations.

The IMB alleged that prescription controlled medicines were on sale at the Dr Acupuncture premises on April 6, 2011.

The woman and their company, which she runs with her husband, were accused of stocking medicines containing the active ingredient Sibutramine which was once used in slimming tablets.

According to summons issued against the defendants, the traditional medicine shop had stocked various other medicines, including products called “Strong Lion Viagra” and “Hard In the End”, which contained the active ingredient Sildenafil.

Sildenafil is used to treat erectile dysfunction, confined to prescription control and requires advise of a medical practitioner.

It was also alleged that the defendants advertised a herbal Viagra medicine which had the ingredient Tadalafil, another drug used in the treatment of impotence.

Brenda Kirby, an enforcement officer at the IMB, told the court that products seized were analysed and found to contain prescription controlled medicines.

She told the IMB's solicitor Ronan O'Neill that Sibutramine was an ingredient in one product and Ms Kirby added that it has been “withdrawn from the market because the risks outweighed the benefits”.

The court heard that the text on the labels of the products was in Chinese and Ms Wang had told Ms Kirby that this led her to believe all the products were “100 per cent herbal”.

The products containing the active ingredients Tadalafil and Sildenafil had public health and safety issues and they are also subject to prescription control to ensure the user is getting the correct medicine, the court heard

They can cause health risks to a person with underlying medical problems, Judge John O'Neill was told.

Judge O'Neill heard that the stock had three sources: a closing down sale of another business in Swords in Dublin, a supplier in the UK and some of the products had been bought from a salesman.

The woman told the IMB that she thought there should be list available of medicinal products that are subject to prescription control. However, Ms Kirby explained that was difficult to do in relation to the type of products at the centre of the investigation as they regularly changed their names.

The defence lawyer said that the potency of the products was not known but Ms Wang was remorseful that they could have had dangerous and tragic effects.

The charges, on conviction, can result maximum fines of €2,000 as well sentences of up to 12 months imprisonment per offence.

Judge John O'Neill noted that the mother-of-two had no prior criminal convictions and had paid €4,300 to cover the IMB's legal costs. He also took her guilty plea and co-operation with the IMB into consideration and ordered her to donate €1,500 to the Fr Peter McVerry Trust.

He told Ms Wang that if this is done by December 9 he will apply the Probation Act which would see her spared a conviction as well as possible jail term.

However, fines totalling €2,000 were levied against the company WDZ Partnership Ltd.

[mawali]

I cannot help but repeat something I saw about a doctor taliking to his patient:
doc; patient, you need to watch your weight, eat properly and exercise x times/week.
patient; I canot do that doc, I have a lot of things to do
doc: do you prefer to exercise 30-40 minutes a day or be dead 24 hrs a day!
at least, he would be stiff for the latter

[GeneChing]

The verdict....

Chinese medicine woman admits 'herbal Viagra' offence


9/12/2013 Ms Sonia Hui Wang with an address at Portland Street in Dublin city-centre pictured leaving the Four Courts yesterday(Mon) after she appeared before the Dublin District Court on charges related to breaking medicinal products regulations.Pic: Collins Courts

Tom Tuite – 10 December 2013
A TRADITIONAL Chinese medicine practitioner, who believed she was stocking 100pc herbal Viagra-like products but which turned out to be laced with drugs that carry public health risks, has been spared a sentence and a criminal conviction.

The prosecution at Dublin District Court was brought by the Irish Medicines Board (IMB) which had carried out an inspection at a premises called Dr Acupuncture at the Nutgrove Shopping Centre, Rathfarnham, Dublin.

WDZ Partnership Ltd, with an address at Henry Street in Dublin, and one of its directors, Sonya Hui Wang (36), who resides at Portland Street in Dublin city centre but is originally from China, pleaded guilty to breaking medicinal products regulations.

The charges, on conviction, can result in maximum fines of €2,000 as well as sentences of up to 12 months in prison per offence.

Judge John O'Neill heard that the mother of two had no prior criminal convictions and had paid €4,300 to cover the IMB's legal costs. He also took her guilty plea and co-operation with the IMB into consideration and had earlier ordered her to donate €1,500 to the Fr Peter McVerry Trust.

He noted yesterday that Ms Wang had complied with the order and he applied the Probation Act. However, fines totalling €2,000 have already been levied against the company WDZ Partnership Ltd.

The IMB found that prescription-controlled medicines were on sale at the Dr Acupuncture premises on April 6, 2011.

The woman and their company, which she runs with her husband, stocked medicines containing the active ingredient sibutramine which was once used in slimming tablets.

According to summons issued against the defendants, the traditional medicine shop had stocked various other medicines including products called 'Strong Lion Viagra' and 'Hard In the End', which contained the active ingredient sildenafil.

Sildenafil is used to treat erectile dysfunction, confined to prescription control and requires the advice of a medical practitioner.

The text on the labels of the products was in Chinese and Ms Wang told the court that this led her to believe all the products were "100pc herbal".

Irish Independent

[SoCo KungFu]

This isn't limited to TCM. I've read enough stuff from ethnobotanists describing events in South America and the like. A village shaman would mix herbs for a treatment and at the end, throw a few tylenol into the concoction. The implication here being far more than just questioning the validity of the folk medicine, but more their entire process of analyzing what is good from bad, how they weigh evidence (and set up some potentially dangerous scenarios for the locals that are taking this stuff, particularly as more western med reaches isolated areas). Usually the answer is not much at all. In China, this phenomenon is what leads to the slaughter of rhinos for horn, not knowing something so basic as that rhino tusk isn't even made of bone (never mind that even the claim of bone being in any way medicinally useful is total nonsense itself).

[GeneChing]

I've never used this stuff. Anyone else use it?

Eu Yan Sang says product safe following FDA warning
By John Leong
POSTED: 30 Sep 2014 13:03
UPDATED: 01 Oct 2014 00:00

A herbal cold remedy by Eu Yan Sang was associated with the lead intoxication of an 18-month-old toddler in New York City. However, the company says the version of Bo Ying Compound sold there is made in US and in line with country's stringent health standards.

SINGAPORE: Traditional Chinese medicine retailer Eu Yan Sang on Monday (Sep 29) moved to reassure customers after a herbal cold remedy, purportedly manufactured by the company, was associated with the lead intoxication of an 18-month-old toddler in New York City.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an alert last Friday, warning of a lead poisoning risk from the "Bo Ying Compound" product manufactured by Eu Yan Sang (Hong Kong). The powdered product is marketed in retail outlets and online for use in infants and children for treatment of a variety of conditions including influenza, fever, sneezing, and nasal discharge, the FDA said.

"The product was tested and found to contain high levels of lead," it said. "FDA has received one adverse event report of lead poisoning in an 18-month-old child who was given this product."

The FDA advised parents and caregivers not to purchase or use the product, and added that anyone using this product or providing it to a child should immediately consult a health care professional.

Exposure to lead can cause serious damage to the central nervous system, the kidneys, and the immune system. In children, chronic exposure to lead, even at low levels, is associated with impaired cognitive function, including reduced IQ, behavioural difficulties and other problems, according to the FDA.

However, Eu Yan Sang said in a statement on Monday that the company does not export the product in question to the United States. Instead, the company said at a media briefing that it exports a made-in-the-United-States version of Bo Ying Compound, and this product is in line with the country’s stringent health standards.

“Eu Yan Sang (Hong Kong)'s Bo Ying Compound complies with safety requirements set out by the Hong Kong Department of Health, and has passed all required tests for safety, including lead content, long term toxicity test, clinical trials, quality and stability,” the statement said. The company has appointed lawyers in the US to handle the matter, it added.



Hong Kong measures permissible lead levels by micrograms per day. The rest measure the allowed levels by parts per million. The allowed level in the Hong Kong version far exceeds that in other countries, including the US and Singapore. In any case, the Hong Kong version should not have been sold in New York, where the poisoning case occurred in July.

Said Eu Yan Sang Group CEO Richard Eu: "In this instance, they measured the product, which we did not export, and which is only for sale in Hong Kong. They measured it as a food, as opposed to being a dietary supplement, and the standards are different even within the US. As as a food, it was found to contain excessive lead content, as a dietary supplement, that would not have been the case."

The packaging on the product that is approved for sale in the US is similar but slightly different from the one made in Hong Kong, which is at the centre of investigations. Both, however, claim to be able to do the same thing, and that is to alleviate symptoms associated with cough and cold in children.

Eu Yan Sang says it has been trying to get more information on the case and the infant's condition from New York health authorities, but has yet to receive any. That is despite the company sending two requests, the first more than a month ago.



"We've had this product for 100 years, this is the first time that something like this has happened," said Mr Eu. "I think what happened was that the mother made a complaint to the Department of Health, said that the child had apparent lead poisoning and that he had it after ingesting this particular product. They tested the product and they found that as a food, it had excessive lead content, but they did not make the conclusion that it was this product that caused the poisoning."

The company said the lead poisoning could have been caused by other sources, such as tap water or even a counterfeit product. It emphasised that all of its products meet safety requirements set out by the various countries, and these are safe to consume, including the version sold in Singapore.

SINGAPORE VERSION OF BO YING COMPOUND IS SAFE: HSA

Singapore's Health Sciences Authority (HSA) confirmed that a similar product called “Eu Yan Sang Bo Ying Compound” is sold here, but that it is manufactured by Malaysia’s Weng Li. HSA took a precautionary measure of testing the product sold in Singapore and found that its lead levels were within acceptable limits of international and regional guidelines for herbal medicines.


(Photos: FDA)

- CNA/cy/xy

[curenado]

No I haven't, but I like the alerts.
The distinction between inherent and acquired dangers is important because some have come to possess both.
The medicine is Jacks or better powerful but tcm's respect that more than some people who equate digitalis to green tea.

But I (still) purvey primary materials and botanicals and what I wanted to point out about people getting selective is that the world needs growers. This stuff just opens up more for here and some countries to meet that standard demand (not hard?) and be cash cropping.
If you work local your buyers know but the first real hill is large crop testing (200) but completely worth it.
A bit like endangered species except the endangered one is us.
To say also that if people use a plant as a staple growing it now means your beds are established in times "of changing fortune" and you know where it came from.

[GeneChing]

If you want to see the vid, follow the link. I couldn't cut & paste it into this article repost.

Hunan man almost dies after eating raw fish gallbladder



A man in Hunan province nearly died from severe gallbladder poisoning after dining on a grass carp gallbladder in hopes that it would improve his health and vision, as the traditional Chinese belief goes.

Watch the Tomo News report here:

Cases of acute renal poisoning as a result of fish gallbladder consumption have been reported in China, Hong Kong, Japan, India and the US.

Please don't eat raw fish gallbladder.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@shanghaiist.com with further questions, comments or tips.
By Katie Nelson in News on Feb 24, 2015 1:30 PM

[curenado]

We shall watch it with the consuming of others organs and parts....
That's one of the stranger examples. That's when that "gross!" Instinct pays off...

[GeneChing]

VIAGRA found in Chinese 'Kung Fu rice wine'
It provokes the desire and makes the performance BIGGER AND HARDER


Chinese officials inspecting Viagra-tainted rice wine

3 Aug 2015 at 12:57, Simon Sharwood

China's Liuzhou Food and Drug Administration has warned that distilleries in Liunan District are producing booze contaminated with chemicals used in the production of erectile dysfunction treatment Viagra.

The Administration reported that products named “Kung Fu wine pot of gold” and “Liu Pa god health wine” were found to contain sildenafil, the name of the compound sold as Viagra.

The beverages aren't actually wine, but are known as “baijiu”, a sprit made with rice and sold in varying strengths, which is immensely popular throughout China.

While adding a little Viagra to booze may sound like an amusing antidote to The Bard's timeless observation that drink “provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance”, (Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 3), China takes food contamination seriously. This follows incidents in 2008 in which tainted infant formula kill several children.

While a tragedy in its own right, that incident was also seen as harmful to China's export prospects. Food quality has been high on government agendas ever since, making this new incident very serious indeed in China.

I just wanted a nitecap and wound up with a boner....

[GeneChing]

Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Illegally Added to Medical Wines
Francis Eduard Ang | Aug 24, 2015 10:52 PM EDT


Medical wines are part of traditional Chinese medicine. (Photo : Wikimedia)

China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) has announced that 69 medical wines produced by 51 businesses have illegally added chemicals, including sildenafil, causing many to be concerned about the safety of traditional Chinese medicines in the country.
Some of the businesses involved in the scandal include known brands like Hainan Yedao Group, which produces deer-tortoise wine.
One of the most prominent drugs found in the medical wines is sildenafil, which is used to treat erectile dysfunction in men. It is the main ingredient in the popular drug Viagra by U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc.
This is not the first time medical wines have been found with illegal additives. Healthcare foods are often tainted with additives, especially sexual stimulants or prescription weight-loss drugs.
In 2014, several wines produced in Hebei and Guangxi have been found to contain erectile dysfunction drugs.
Back on June 2, a sting on a wine factory in Liuzhou, Guangxi, found that several products contained erectile dysfunction drugs.
On June 23, authorities inspected a wine factory and found their medical wines to contain several illegally added chemicals, including erectile dysfunction drugs.
Despite the lack of approved health benefits, there is still a strong market for these medical wines.
Regulators have often run into problems in cross-regional inspection, as more medical wines are being sold over the Internet. At present, there are no rules in China that prevent the selling of healthcare products over the Internet.
According to Wang Zhong, deputy secretary-general of the China Health Care Association, adding western drugs to health products and common food products is illegal.
However, many who make traditional Chinese medicine add Western medicine to their products because traditional Chinese medicine does not have the immediate effects that Western medicine does, he added.

I've had a lot of medicinal wines back in the day. They were all very stimulating, but none of them left me with an erection.

[GeneChing]

Man in hospital after eating 3 boiled toads
By Zhang Ningning | August 27, 2015, Thursday | Online Edition



A 70-year-old man in Shanghai was sent to hospital after eating three boiled toads believing it to be a folk remedy for his skin disease, Jiefang Daily said yesterday.

The man, surnamed Gao, had a skin disease for many years. He was told eating toads could help clear toxins in the body and was an effective treatment for skin diseases, the report said.

Gao boiled the toads into a soup and ate them. He started to vomit and feel dizzy about an hour later. He went into shock with his heart rate dropping to as low as 30 beats per minute. After emergency treatment and washing of the stomach, Gao was sent to the intensive care unit of Songjiang District Central Hospital, the report said.

Some parts of toads can be used to make medicines but are also toxic. These parts can damage the human central nervous system and digestive tracts, the report said.

"Folk remedies like eating toads to cure skin diseases or cancer don’t work," an unnamed doctor at the hospital told the paper. The doctor also said that in severe cases, eating toads could cause death from respiratory and circulatory failure.

At least it didn't cause priapism.