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After food and drug scandals, China's regulator gets a makeover

Nature Medicine volume 19, page 513 (2013)Cite this article

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HONG KONG — The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) of China was no stranger to shady dealings. Six years ago, former director Xiaoyu Zheng was convicted and executed for reportedly taking bribes from eight pharmaceutical firms in exchange for approving unsafe medicines. Several other top officials were fired for corruption, too. So, when a construction crew arrived at the SFDA headquarters in Beijing in the early morning hours of 22 March with no advance public notice, suspicions were aroused. However, nothing was afoul. The workers were there simply to put up a new aluminum doorplate outside the gate. It read: China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA).

The name change came in response to numerous quality scandals involving food and drug products in recent years—for example, the contamination of heparin in 2008 and the use of 'gutter oil' to make antibiotics in 2012. Officials now hope that the much-anticipated organizational restructuring will improve food and drug quality, strengthen drug regulations and close existing loopholes.

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  1. Felix Cheung
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Cheung, F. After food and drug scandals, China's regulator gets a makeover. Nat Med 19, 513 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0513-513a

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