Meridia recall fuels warning on weight loss
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An online survey by Nielsen, a global market research company, showed that 66 percent of Chinese youths were carrying out weight-loss plans, and 7 percent of them were taking weight-loss pills.
The 10-billion-yuan weight-loss industry in China has also spawned an online boom, with many online stores offering weight-loss pills from unidenti-fied sources. But the quality of those products is in question.
Piao Yuan'er, a 34-year-old woman in Beijing, found her heart beating extremely fast and went into a coma after she took two types of weight-loss pills at the same time. She had bought them in August from Taobao, the largest online shopping platform in China.
"The symptoms lasted about seven or eight hours. I felt so panicked and don't dare to take any pill of this kind anymore," she said.
Ma Lin, a Hulunbuir-based lawyer specializing in civil disputes, said that the weight-loss drug market in China does not have any industry standard, which could bring potential hazards to patents' health, as well as make it difficult for patients to safeguard their rights if there are any side effects.
"Although China has the Food Hygiene Law and the draft Regulation for the Registration of Health Food, it has not yet set up a complete legal system for the supervision of those drugs," he said.
"Besides, multi-departments are obligated to take responsibility for the supervision of the drug. But the lack of a systematic, organically coordinated functioning institution undermines the effect of market supervision," he said.
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