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Drug Cheif Sentenced to Death

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Deborah:
in China.....Here, it would be a slap on the hand, then business as usual.
Might we see less corruption and deaths due to drugs rushed to market (for a price), if the consequences were stiffer here?

Corrupt drug chief sentenced to death
By Li Xinran 2007-5-29  
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CHINA'S former top drug regulator was sentenced to death in a Beijing court this morning on charges of bribe taking and negligence. :o

Zheng Xiaoyu, once the director of State Food and Drug Administration, was given a death penalty at the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court on the charges of pocketing 6.49 million yuan (US$840,000) in bribes and dereliction of duty, Xinhua news agency reported.

Zheng may appeal to a higher court within 10 days, according to China's criminal procedure law. Otherwise he will be executed in seven days after the sentence takes effect.

Zheng was convicted to accept bribes from eight pharmaceutical companies from June 1997 to December 2006 and seek profits for them by taking advantages of his post.

Drug companies were reported to gain approval for good manufacturing practice certificates or drug licenses from Zheng after gifting him and his family members money and shares, among others.

From 2001 to 2003, Zheng promoted the upgrading of the drug licensing system around the country. Zheng autocratically handled the issue and never reported it higher-up.

Instead of using a democratic decision-making procedure, Zheng acted presumptuously to lower the criterion for certificate upgrading, which allowed drug companies to obtain new licenses by falsifying data and information. He even approved six bogus drugs.

Zheng's "dereliction of duty" was revealed by a series of health scares and corruption scandals.

Drugs improperly approved by Zheng's agency reportedly included an antibiotic that killed at least 10 patients last year before it was taken off the market.

Zheng was fired in 2005 on charges he took up millions of yuan bribes to approve untested medicines. He was expelled earlier this year from the Communist Party of China and put into custody for further investigation.

Zheng's case prompted the central government to launch a sweeping investigation of the Chinese drug industry. Authorities ordered a review of 170,000 drug licenses, most of them granted in 1999-2002, when Zheng was in office.
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article ... 317625.htm

The China Business News said earlier that 31 people are alleged to be involved in the corruption scandal, with several of them holding senior positions within the pharmaceutical industry.
Zheng's wife Liu Naixue and son Zheng Hairong, plus a number of drug companies were also investigated.
One firm named was the Kongliyuan Group from South China's Hainan Province. It is alleged to have bribed Zheng in return for SFDA approvals of 277 medicines, most of which were antibiotics that yield high profits.
[Hmm. Sounds like Bush's TMAP]
http://chinaelections.org/en/readnews.a ... E70C5A1%7D

Anonymous:
No, they don't fuck around over there! . ::stab::

Nihilanthic:
Wow, China did something very very right.

Anonymous:
If you ask nicely maybe you can be the executioner.

Deborah:
We'll see what Ms Palazzo gets.

http://www.dailycomet.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... /706141966

Psychiatrist indicted for fraud in Paxil trials
The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS Dr. Maria Carmen Palazzo was indicted by a federal grand jury on 55 counts of health care fraud and false documentation in connection with a clinical trial of Paxil in children and adolescents, U.S.
Attorney Jim Letten said on Thursday.

The indictment alleges that during approximately a five-year period, Palazzo, 55, of New Orleans, defrauded Medicare in connection with services she claimed to have rendered to patients in a Psychiatric Partial Hospitalization Program at Touro Infirmary.

The indictment also charges that Palazzo defrauded Medicare by submitting fraudulent invoices to Touro for consulting and medical director services. The indictment says because of that Medicare paid Palazzo over $653,000 she was not entitled to receive.

Palazzo, who specializes in psychiatry, is also charged with offenses relating to clinical trials involving Paxil.

According to the indictment, Palazzo, as a clinical investigator for SmithKline Beecham doing business as GlaxoSmithKline, fraudulently failed to maintain and prepare records required by the FDA for evaluation the drug's safety and effectiveness in children and adolescents.

If convicted, Palazzo faces a maximum term of 445 years, and a fine of $10.15 million, Letten's office said.

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