Chinese skin cream recalled after steroid found
BEIJING: A company in southwest China has recalled a skin
cream after a potentially dangerous steroid hormone that should not
be used for more than two weeks was found in it, state media said
Wednesday.
The Miaoling Medical Technology Group, based in Guizhou province,
also said it had stopped production and sales of the cream, which
was widely used to treat eczema in babies, the Beijing Youth Daily
reported.
The hormone - clobetasol propionate - used to treat various skin
disorders, should not be used by children under 12, according to
drug information website drugs.com.
It can cause changes in blood sugar and can lead to Cushing's
syndrome, a disorder characterised by a moon-shaped face, emotional
disturbances, and in women, abnormal growth of facial and body
hair.
The packaging of the cream, however, claimed it consisted only of
25 natural ingredients, according to an earlier report on Guangzhou
news website gznet.com.
A report in Xiaoxiang Morning News in central China said that an
eight-month-old girl in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province,
had appeared to menstruate after being given the cream for seven
months.
Doctors said they suspected the hormone was the cause, the paper
said.
Another report published on the popular web portal sina.com said
Guizhou's health department had fined the company 5,000 yuan (730
dollars) as far back as August 14 when it discovered the hormone in
a test of the cream.
The report, citing a local paper in east China, said the product's
license was in the process of being revoked.
The news comes as China is still reeling from a tainted milk
scandal that has led to recalls and bans of Chinese-made dairy
products around the world.
Milk made by 22 Chinese dairy companies was found to have been
contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical normally used to
make plastic, causing the deaths of at least four babies and
sickening another 53,000.
Calls made to the skin cream company and to the Guizhou health
department went unanswered on Wednesday.
One fine day the rest of the world is going to get so pissed off
with its products that it will find its export capabilities
dropping like the stock market now...unless China clean up its
act now...effectively of course.
