HK at centre of global drugs scam

The Standard - Hong Kong is at the centre of a scam channeling counterfeit drugs from the mainland abroad, according to an industry insider.

Counterfeiters have moved from lifestyle drugs including impotence, sleeping and slimming pills and antifungal shampoos to medicines for severe and chronic conditions such as diabetes, cholesterol, and liver and heart problems, a source in the local pharmacy industry revealed. Read more

Herbal sex remedy linked to cancer

Reuters, CanWest – Two men seeking to boost sexual performance and grow bigger muscles instead ended up with advanced prostate cancer after taking “herbal” supplements, US doctors said. Read more

TCM has huge potentials: ‘Iron Lady’

Xinhua – The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has broad prospects and huge potentials in its development, Chinese vice premier Wu Yi said. Read more

Drug alert: ‘Urine disease’ product contains heavy metals

Health Canada release – Health Canada is warning Canadians not to use the unauthorized product Yeniujyn (Chinese name: 立止夜尿丸) because the product contains heavy metal contaminants and may pose a serious health risk. Yeniujyn is advertised as a natural health product, for adults and children, to be used “to cure involuntary passage of urine diseases.” The product was found to contain high levels of lead and arsenic. Read more

Medical plants ‘face extinction’, magnolia included

BBC – Hundreds of medicinal plants are at risk of extinction, threatening the discovery of future cures for disease, according to experts.

Over 50% of prescription drugs are derived from chemicals first identified in plants. Read more

Lingzhi spores products’ breakage rate questioned

CM NEWS, Hong Kong Consumer Council release – Are products of lingzhi spores（靈芝孢子）as good as their manufacturers’ claim? One claim seemingly universal among the manufacturers is the assertion over the breakage rate of the spores – that each and every spore and its wall are fully broken or cracked open purportedly to maximize the efficacy of the product. Read more

Mood herb found to increase lifespan

CM NEWS, University of California, Irvine release – The herbal extract of a yellow-flowered mountain plant indigenous to the Arctic regions of Europe and Asia increased the lifespan of fruit fly populations, according to a University of California, Irvine study. Read more

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