U.S. prods China on healthcare

By Kirby Chien

BEIJING (Reuters) - A U.S. commerce official said on Friday that China did not have the ability or will to regulate its economy properly, allowing the export of a chemical that tainted a blood-thinning agent suspected of killing dozens.

Christopher Padilla, the under secretary of commerce for international trade, told a group of businessmen that the United States was concerned Chinese regulators did not have the authority to monitor both pharmaceuticals and bulk chemicals.

"This is a loophole that must be closed," Padilla said.

Padilla said the State Food and Drug Administration lacked the authority to regulate both the makers of active pharmaceutical ingredients and those that make bulk chemicals, which may be used in pharmaceuticals but are not considered to be of medicinal use.

"The rapid growth of China's economy has clearly outstripped the ability and the will of the government to effectively police that economy," he said.

U.S. researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology identified this week a chemical contaminating the blood-thinner heparin from China and showed how it could cause a sometimes fatal allergic reaction.

The tainted heparin had been used by at least 81 U.S. patients who died soon afterwards.

Their cases forced manufacturer Baxter International to recall the commonly used blood-thinner and caused a diplomatic squabble between the U.S. and China.