On Tuesday China executed former head of their Food and Drug Administration for taking bribes to OK substandard drugs. Zheng Xiaoyu had become a symbol for all that was going with product safety. Zheng Xiaoyu’s execution was confirmed by spokeswoman Yan Jianyang during a recent news conference held by the FDA to highlight efforts to improve China’s recent dismal track record on food and drug safety.
Yan went on to say, “such cases have brought shame to our administration and revealed serious problems. We need to seriously reflect on what lessons we can draw from such cases.”
Zheng was sentenced to death last May after administration had found that he had been taking bribes to approve an antibiotic blamed for at least 10 deaths and other substandard medicines.
According to MSNBC, “Yan said the food and drug administration was working to tighten its safety procedures and create a more transparent operating environment. But the administration acknowledged that its supervision of food and drug safety is unsatisfactory and that it has been slow to tackle the problem, but vowed to improve.”
Although some may believe that China’s punishment was far beyond necessary, Americans could learn from China and set a precedent for those who are caught cheating and manipulating the system for their own well being. If America had this kind of system, their would be more than one head rolling.
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