Before, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Procuracy suggested 10 to 12 years in prison at the trial of former director of Vietnamese pharmaceutical firm Pharma Vietnam Nguyen Minh Hung for importing and distributing substandard cancer medicine.
According to the indictment, since 2013, VN Pharma former director Nguyen Minh Hung purchased and distributed a type of sub-standard cancer medicine of Helix Pharmaceuticals Inc Canada to provide hospitals in the country.
Due to doubts of the origin of the medication, the Drug Administration of Vietnam under the Ministry of Health ordered a comprehensive inspection of the pharmaceutical firm and halted the distribution of the medicine. The inspection found out the document was fake.
A test by the health ministry later showed that H-Capita 500mg contained 97 percent of capecitabine, an active ingredient that has poor quality and should not be used on humans.
The case has stirred public rage.
