China SFDA: Buyers Must Vet Drug Safety

China's drug safety agency, commenting on a probe into the recalled drug heparin, said Wednesday it enforces strict controls on chemicals used in pharmaceuticals, but that importing countries are ultimately responsible for ensuring product safety.

The State Food and Drug Administration, in a statement on its Web site, said it was cooperating with a U.S. probe into a factory that makes heparin, a blood-thinning drug by Baxter International that is subject to a massive recall due to adverse patient reactions.

"We attach high importance to this," the agency said in its first comment on the heparin recall. SFDA officials have not responded to repeated inquiries about the case.

But the SFDA said that based on international practice, "safeguarding the legality, safety and quality of raw materials imported for use in pharmaceuticals is the responsibility of the importing country."

Chicago Tribune