Police in China have arrested a man accused of distributing a shoddy diabetes drug blamed for at least two deaths, a state news agency said Saturday.
The medicine contained six times the normal amount of a chemical ingredient used to lower blood sugar.
It is blamed for killing two people and sickening nine others in the far western region of Xinjiang. The drug is believed to have been widely distributed throughout the country, though only Xinjiang reported problems.
Police have said Li Dong is the chief suspect in the case, Xinhua News Agency reported without giving details. He was arrested in northeastern Liaoning province early Saturday, Xinhua said, adding that Li's brother and another suspect were detained earlier.
A man who answered the phone at the criminal investigation department of the Liaoning police would not comment, saying he was not authorized to speak to the media. The phone rang unanswered at the Liaoning Public Security Bureau's propaganda department.
China has been hit by a string of cases highlighting its poor record in food and drug safety. Last year, at least six babies died and nearly 300,000 were sickened by infant formula contaminated with an industrial chemical that can cause kidney failure.
Copyright 2009 AP News
