国内英语新闻:Regulator metes out punishment for drug producers in phoney medicine scandals

BEIJING, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Pharmaceutical producers will risk having their operation license revoked if they use prohibited chemicals as medicine ingredients or involved in fake drug production, China's drug regulator said in a circular Saturday.

The State Food and Drug Administration said it would name and shame pharmaceutical companies if they make phoney medicine and withdraw the operation licenses of pharmacies if they intentionally sell unqualified drugs.

The circular came in the wake of several counterfeit medicine scandals uncovered by Chinese police in the past few months.

On Nov. 4, police seized more than 65 million imitation medicinal tablets and arrested 114 suspects in a cross-provincial raid on counterfeit drugs.

In October, police raided on an illegal drug production and sale network and ended up with the seizure of 190 million yuan (29.9 million U.S. dollars) worth of counterfeit drugs.

The suspects were found to have used starch or corn powder as ingredients for bogus medicine, or re-packaged expired pharmaceuticals.Police also found animal feed and chemical pigments in the counterfeit products.