Former head of China's drug watchdog executed in Beijing

[enquirewithin]

Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of China''s State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), was executed on Tuesday morning with the approval of the Supreme People''s Court.

Zheng was the country''s fourth senior official of his rank to be sentenced to death in recent years, following former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People''s Congress Cheng Kejie and two former provincial deputy governors Hu Changqing and Wang Huaizhong. Cheng and Hu were sentenced in 2000 and Wang was sentenced in 2004.

Zheng, 63, was sentenced to death on May 29 by the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People''s Court after being found guilty of taking 6.49 million yuan (850,000 U.S. dollars) in bribes and dereliction of duty.

Zheng appealed for leniency in a second hearing on June 12, arguing the penalty was "too severe" and asking the court to reconsider the sentence. He also gave evidence that implicated other officials in the case.

The Higher People''s Court of Beijing rejected Zheng''s appeal on June 22 and upheld the death sentence.

"The evidence provided by Zheng was obtained by the prosecution team before his confession," said the court, which then asked for a review and the approval of the Supreme People''s Court (SPC)....

The bribes taken by Zheng, including cash and gifts, were received either directly or through his wife and son, according to the court.

The court said Zheng "sought benefits" for eight pharmaceutical companies by approving their drugs and medical devices during his tenure as China''s chief drug and food official from June 1997 to December 2006....

The consequences of Zheng''s dereliction of duty proved extremely serious. Six types of medicine approved by the administration during that period were fake. Some pharmaceutical companies used false documents to apply for approvals, the court said.

[enquirewithin]

This as if the head of the FDA was executed. Zheng was doubtlessly guilty, but is aslo a scapegoat for the problems with food and drug quality. He must also have the wrong political allies.

Under Zheng's 1998-2005 tenure as top drug regulator, his agency approved six medicines that turned out to be fake, and the drug-makers used falsified documents to apply for approvals, state media have reported.
His death sentence was unusually heavy even for China, which is believed to carry out more court-ordered executions than all other nations combined — and likely indicates the leadership's determination to confront the recent scares involving unsafe food and drugs.


Hao Heping, who was in charge of medical equipment supervision at Zheng's agency, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for corruption last year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/bu...rssnyt&emc=rss

[motorhead]

Some snipets from an Associated Press article www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070710/china_execution_070710/20070710?hub=Health

One antibiotic caused the deaths of at least 10 people.

Fears abroad over Chinese-made products were sparked last year by the deaths of dozens of people in Panama who took medicine contaminated with diethylene glycol imported from China. It was passed off as harmless glycerin.

China admitted last month that it was the source of the deadly chemical that ended up in cough syrup and other treatments but insists the chemical was originally labeled as for industrial use only. Beijing blames the Panama traders who eventually bought the shipment for fraudulently relabeling it as medical-grade glycerin.

So he was responsible for at least 10 ten deaths. We probably will never know for sure about the glycerin thing. Is the death penalty to harsh then? If the head of the FDA commited the same actions with the same results I'm sure there would be those pushing for his execution in the United States.

[enquirewithin]

In a country that has executions for many crimes, it's arguably not too harsh. Not many will have sympathy with him. I don't agree with the death penalty at all, but that's another issue.

[Evil GIR]

They just seem happy to kill you for anything over there, which is strange coming from a buddist country.

[enquirewithin]

Not really a Buddhist country-- an atheist one. As they always say, "Ren tai doh" (Too many people)! Christians aren't supposed to kill either, but look at what Christian countries do.

[Coconut]

Originally Posted by enquirewithin

Not really a Buddhist country-- an atheist one. As they always say, "Ren tai doh" (Too many people)! Christians aren't supposed to kill either, but look at what Christian countries do.

Agreed. China, as with all "Communist" countries, is officially atheist. The reason for this is that any positive outlook towards an authority other than the omnipotent State (i.e. God) is viewed as unsavoury by those in power.