Tongrentang medicine accused of excessive mercury  

香港卫生署指同仁堂药品水银超标 回应避重就轻

日前，同仁堂旗下“健体五补丸”水银超标的消息备受关注。香港卫生署表示，涉汞药品在内地制造，经同仁堂进口至香港销售。但中新网财经频道登陆北京同仁堂香港药业管理有限公司、国家食品药品监督管理总局网站并未找到该产品相关信息。而同仁堂方面回应称，涉汞药品不是自己生产的，有没有假药的可能还不好定论。

ECNS -- A Chinese medicine produced by Tongrentang Co. on the Chinese mainland and sold in Hong Kong is suspected of containing excessive levels of mercury, said the Hong Kong Department of Health.

On May 7, the department issued a notice declaring that a batch of Jian Ti Wu Bu Wan contains excessive levels of mercury and ordered all medicines bearing the name be recalled immediately.

"Initial investigation revealed that the proprietary Chinese medicine was manufactured on the mainland and was imported by Tong Ren Tang to Hong Kong for sale. The [medicine] is prescribed for health maintenance in adults, but its ingredients could not account for the presence of mercury," a spokesman for the Department of Health said in an online statement Tuesday evening.

Tests showed that samples contain mercury levels five times higher than the safe standard and may cause mouth inflammation and impairment to the nervous system and kidney, it said.

However, Tongrentang denied that the medicine involved was produced by it.

A person in charge responded that the batch number that the Hong Kong Department of Health issued was not produced by Tong Ren Tang Techonologies Co. However, she admitted that the company indeed produced "Jian Ti Wu Bu Wan".

"We're not sure whether there are fake medicines," she said.

So far, no information about the substandard medicine brand has been found on the websites of either Beijing Tongrentang Co or Beijing Tong Ren Tang Hong Kong Medicine Management. Moreover, no search results about the medicine brand were found in the database of "domestic produced medicine" and "health medicine" of the State Food and Drug Administration's official website.

Tongrentang was involved in several substandard medicine scandals in the past.