Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-04-18
Yunnan Baiyao, a hemostatic over-the-counter Chinese herbal medicine developed more than a century ago, has long enjoyed preferential policies from the Chinese government, which allowed its formula to remain a secret — until now.
A box of Yunnan Baiyao capsules. (Photo/CFP) |
Yunnan Baiyao, a hemostatic over-the-counter Chinese herbal medicine developed more than a century ago, has long enjoyed preferential policies from the Chinese government, which allowed its formula to remain a secret — until now.
The
medicine, widely touted as a "miracle drug," was developed in the
southwestern province of Yunnan by Qu Huanzhang in 1902. In China, the drug
enjoys a similar reputation to the discovery and development of penicillin in
the West.
The
complete formula and ingredients, however, are a great mystery. The "white
drug from Yunnan" has been designated as a Class-1 protected traditional
Chinese medicine formula in mainland China, which has allowed its producer, the
state-run Yunnan Baiyao Group, to keep the formula a secret.
Recently,
after authorities renewed their guidelines for the publication of ingredients
of Chinese medicines connected to classified state-level technical knowledge,
Yunnan Baiyao reluctantly published the ingredients of the powdered medicine,
which it said was a Chinese herb called "caowu," or
"duanchangcao," in Chinese, and aconite or wolfsbane in English.
The
substance is classified as a poison, as are many other substances used in
traditional Chinese medicine.
Shanghai's
China Business News said Yunnan Baiyao had not made public that the medicine
contained aconite even in 2002, when the company listed eight ingredients of
the drug in its application to the US Food and Drug Administration for a sales
permit.
Faced with
safety concerns, Yunnan Baiyao executive Wu Wei stated in an interview with the
newspaper that the toxicity of the ingredient had been reduced to "a safe
range" through the company's unique processing techniques.
The China
Food and Drug Administration issued a notification in November 2013 stating
that all Chinese medicinal drinks that contained ingredients classified as
toxic must have ingredient notes that detail the toxins and a warning.
Following
the new regulations, Yunan Baiyao received criticism over its mystery
ingredients, including aconite, which contains an alkaloid that affects the
kidney. An overdose of aconite can cause symptoms similar to poisoning,
including nausea, vomit and limb paralysis.
Defending
the toxicity of certain poisonous traditional Chinese medicine materials, Gao
Xuemin, a professor at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, said that
all the materials had to undergo a series of complicated processing procedures
before they could be used for medicinal purposes.
During that
process, their toxicity was greatly reduced. "It's the science and
characteristic of the 5,000-year-old traditional Chinese medicine," Gao
said.
The West
became familiar with Yunnan Baiyao during the Vietnam War when American
soldiers noticed Vietcong soldiers wearing vials of the powder around their
necks. They discovered that the powder was used topically to stop bleeding from
bullet and knife wounds, preventing wounded combatants from bleeding out before
getting medical attention.
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