A recent article from Pharma Times indicated that Seroxat/Paxil [paroxetine] was the most widely used antidepressant in China with a market share of 18%.
What could be different in China compared to the western world?
Well, for one, if Seroxat was giving cause for public concern, I doubt if you would find any Chinese activist blogging about it. Freedom of speech is pretty much unheard of in China, even in the land of cyberspace. Who, in their right mind, would want to put their freedom on the line and speak out against an antidepressant drug and the company that makes it?
Secondly, the Chinese State Food & Drug Administration [SFDA], the equivalent of the FDA and MHRA, have a pretty dark history when it comes to corruption.
In April this year, five officials from the SFDA were arrested for allegedly accepting bribes whilst a sixth was suspended from duty.
It was the second major bribery scandal concerning the SFDA in less than four years. Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of the SFDA, was executed on July 10, 2007 for taking bribes of 6.49 million yuan for approving licenses for new drugs.
Finally, GSK has major operations in China. GlaxoSmithKline (China) Investment Co., Ltd, Sino-American Tianjin Smith Kline & French Laboratories Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline (Tianjin) Co., Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (Suzhou) Ltd and GlaxoSmithKline Biological (Shanghai) Ltd.
I assume it would be in the interests of the Chinese government to bend over backwards for GlaxoSmithKline. I mean, why bite the hand that feeds you?
Got me thinking. Maybe the title of this song could have been written with GlaxoSmithKline in mind?
Fid
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'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
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