The Department of Health (DH) reminded members of the public that starting from today (June 1), importation and sale of proprietary Chinese medicines containing Aristolochic Acid (AA) will be prohibited. Application for registration of this kind of products will not be approved.
The decision was discussed by the Chinese Medicines Board of the Chinese Medicine Council earlier and announced by DH on April 24.
A spokesman for DH said, ""DH has instructed the manufacturers of these products to recall the products from the market."
Members of the public who have purchased the products are advised to stop using it, dispose of it or surrender it to the distributors of respective products or the Chinese Medicines Section of DH on 2/F, Public Health Laboratory Centre, 382 Nam Cheong Street, Kowloon, during office hours.
People may call DH at 2319 5119 for enquiries during office hours.
Herbs containing AA is associated with kidney failure and cancer of the urinary tract.
The spokesman said: "DH has not received any adverse reports from the public associated with the use of these products. People are advised to consult Chinese medicine practitioners before taking Chinese medicine."
The following products have been tested by DH and confirmed to contain AA and distributors should cease the importation and sale of these products from June 1 and recall the products from the market:-
| Name of Proprietary Chinese Medicine | Name of Manufacturer | Name of Distributor | Telephone Number of Distributor |
| "HOI PING PAI" REFINED SANSHETAN CHUANPEIMO | GUANGZHOU QIXING PHARMACEUTICAL CO. LTD. | CHINA FEN HIN MEDICINE CO., LTD | 2743 3416 |
| HUA TAN COUGH CAPSULES | GUANGZHOU ZHONGYI PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY LIMITED | TAT HONG COMPANY | 2393 2989 |
| HERBA ASARI | PURAPHARM (NANNING) PHARMACEUTICALS CO. LTD. | NONG'S COMPANY LIMITED | 2840 1840 |
| YISHEN JUANBI WAN | --- | JACKSON INDUSTRIAL | 2511 3707 |
| CHAISENTOMG NASAL | CHAISENTOMG PHARMACEUTICAL FACTORY LTD | CHAISENTOMG PHARMACEUTICAL FACTORY LTD | 2895 2018 |
| FU ZHI LING | --- | MAN'S CHEUNG HONG | 2771 1279 |
| SAN BI TANG-JOINT FORMULA | PURAPHARM (NANNING) PHARMACEUTICALS CO. LTD. | NONG'S COMPANY LIMITED | 2840 1840 |
| CHINESE MEDICINE NASAL RESCUE | WAI YUEN TONG MEDICINE CO., LTD | WAI YUEN TONG MEDICINE CO., LTD | 2727 8911 |
| RHEUMATIC PILLS (translation) | LEE HOONG KEE LIMITED | LEE HOONG KEE LIMITED | 2541 2080 |
| PAK FUNG PILLS (translation) | LEE HOONG KEE LIMITED | LEE HOONG KEE LIMITED | 2541 2080 |
| SHUNAI ZHIKE HUATAN WAN | BEIJING TONG REN TANG HONG KONG MEDICINE MANAGEMENT LIMITED | BEIJING TONG REN TANG HONG KONG MEDICINE MANAGEMENT LIMITED | 2587 8788 |
| HAY FEVER KILLER | TUNG TAK TONG CHINESE MEDICINE MFG. CO., LTD | TUNG TAK TONG CHINESE MEDICINE MFG. CO., LTD | 2545 1551 |
| MINOR BLUE DRAGON COMBINATION | --- | ACE PHARMACEUTICALS (HK) LIMITED | 2753 8818 |
| LING KAN CHIANG WEI HSIN JEN TANG EXTRACT GRANULES | SUN TEN PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD. | SUN TEN PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD. | 3428 2333 |
| MA HUANG FU TZU HIS HSIN EXTRACT GRANULES | SUN TEN PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD. | SUN TEN PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD. | 3428 2333 |
| PU FEI E JIAO SAN EXTRACT GRANULES | SUN TEN PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD. | SUN TEN PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD. | 3428 2333 |
| SONG DAN SEGAN PILLS | HENAN SHIZHEN MEDICINES PRODUCTS CO., LTD | WAH SHUN MEDICINE LIMITED | 2571 0775 |
| GENTIANA COMBINATION | --- | ACE PHARMACEUTICALS (HK) LIMITED | 2753 8818 |
| DU ZHONG JIN GU BI TONG WAN | --- | MING WAH COMPANY | 2562 6129 |
| CHUI FONG TOU KU WAN | PO WO TONG MEDICINE FACTORY LTD. | PO WO TONG MEDICINE FACTORY LTD. | 2505 7336 |
| SO HOP PILLS | MA PAK LEUNG CO., LTD | MA PAK LEUNG CO., LTD | 2544 0539 |
To facilitate Chinese medicine traders to effectively and properly dispose of proprietary Chinese medicines containing AA, DH will provide a central recall service. Between June 1 and 30, traders may send the properly packaged proprietary Chinese medicines products to the Chinese Medicines Section of DH on 2/F, Public Health Laboratory Centre, 382 Nam Cheong Street, Kowloon. DH will collectively dispose of the products.
Reprinted from : HKSAR Government web page :
http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200406/01/0601226.htm