For Chinese herbs, one word can mean millions(2)

NAMING CONTROVERSY

The Chinese Pharmacopoeia Commission insisted they had done nothing wrong in renaming the southern honeysuckle and it was done for the good of drug safety.

Qian Zhongzhi, the commission's chief expert, said honeysuckle planted in the south contains a large amount of saponin that could cause health risks risks if used in injections.

"Only by knowing and defining the difference between Jinyinhua and Shanyinhua could we treat symptoms accordingly and reduce side effects," Qian said.

The CFDA noted it had reported the corruption accusation to the Communist Party of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the country's top anti-corruption authority.

The 2005 version of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia stipulated honeysuckle's content of galuteolin, one of the flower's active ingredients, should account for at least 1 percent of the its weight, a requirement most honeysuckle planted in the north failed.

The commission then moved in 2010 to lower the required content from 1 percent to 0.5 percent, a revision Lu said was tailored for the honeysuckles planted in the north.

"The 2010 revision overturned the traditional view of the herb," Lu argued, saying the main ingredient of honeysuckle is chlorogenic acid rather than galuteolin.

"If galuteolin is listed as the main ingredient, why not develop the shell of peanuts [into medicine] as they contain a much higher content of galuteolin than honeysuckle?" Lu said on his microblog.

He said the commission's revision in 2010 could be blamed for the following collapse of the honeysuckle market in Longhui County.

In Longhui alone, revenues from planting honeysuckle topped 1.2 billion yuan per year until the 2010 revision, but dropped sharply to about 200 million yuan in 2014, according to data provided by Longhui county.

As local farmers' frustrations grew, some suggested it was necessary for the CFDA to give the original name back to honeysuckle planted in the south.

Jiang Linkui, general manager of Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., said to solve the problem, drug watchdogs should let drug makers revert to the way things were because the renaming has caused a supply shortage of Jinyinhua in the market, creating pressure for his company.

The supply and demand for honeysuckle was at an equilibrium level at about 20,000 metric tons per year before the herb was renamed in the south, but only 6,000 tons could be met by Jinyinhua planted in the north, Lu has found.

He said he won't stop voicing his concerns over the naming issue unless the mistakes are corrected.