TAIPEI- Police in Heilongjiang Province, northeast China, have uncovered 227 cases of people vaccinated with a counterfeit rabies vaccine. Twenty-nine of them are from Sichuan Province and 198 are from Heilongjiang Province. Many of the victims are children from two to 14 years old. More than one million yuan (USD $142,000) was involved in the case.
According to reports, on Aug 2, 2007, the Public Safety Bureau in Harbin City said they caught four of the suspects and transported them back to Harbin from Sichuan on July 31. The accused allegedly used distilled water, starch and other cheap ingredients to make and sell 67 forms of counterfeit drugs including a rabies vaccine, serum protein, and miconazole nitrate.
According to an officer from the Harbin Public Safety Bureau, the accused started selling counterfeit rabies vaccine in March of this year. They bought 600 boxes of counterfeit rabies vaccine from sources in Harbin for about 60 yuan (US$9) per box. Then they sold the counterfeit vaccine to other accused persons for 120 yuan per box. The counterfeit drugs were then sold to doctors in small towns in Sichuan. Patients who received counterfeit vaccines are currently under the care of local hospitals.
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