Fake vaccines were believed to be sold to different provinces of China through black market sale. Authorities are now working on hunting the suspects down in its effort to stop the spread of fake drugs.
China police said that they had discovered a syndicate suspected of selling illegal vaccines in dozen of provinces in the country. Authorities have arrested a former doctor and her daughter in Shandong Province for selling fake vaccines and stated that they are searching for 300 more suspects across the country, as reported by New York Times.
After being convicted of selling illegal vaccines in 2009, the former doctor, who is known by her last name Pang, received a suspended 3-year prison sentence in Shandong. However, instead of stopping her operation, she even took her daughter in to expand the sales of the fake vaccines.
The Shandon police found that the younger Pang continued selling illegal vaccines in 2014 and even raided their storage in 2015. However, it is not clear why there were no reports about the case during those years.
According to Shandong Food and Drug Administration, the illegal vaccine spread across 24 regions and major cities that include Beijing. These vaccines were stored without proper temperature to avoid spoilage. The alleged fake products were identified as vaccines for hepatitis B, polio, meningitis, mumps and rabies. The estimated cost of the vaccines is around $88 million.
"We will thoroughly investigate all clues in the case and once we get to the bottom of it then we will severely punish those found to have violated the law," the Shandong food and drug administration said in a statement posted on its website.
Local authorities stated that Pang and her daughter bought the fraud vaccines from traders and were able to sell it to hundreds of resellers across the country. The vaccine may cause severe side effects or even death to the patients who would take it.
