中国指巴拿马应为药毒死亡案负责 (China Blames Panama for Tainted Deadly Medicine)

一位中国官员说，巴拿马企业为至少51名巴拿马人因服用含有中国产化学物的药品而死亡的事件承担主要责任。

中国国家质量检验检疫总局副局长魏传忠星期四说，中国一家公司将一种工业溶剂甘油出售给西班牙的一家公司，然后这家公司又转售给巴拿马一些公司。这一产品被用来生产止咳糖浆和其它药品。

魏传忠承认，中国公司确实贴错了产品标签。这种产品含有15%通常用于油漆和防冻剂的甘氨酸。不过，他同时指出，巴拿马公司应该承担主要责任，因为他们将产品重新命名为“纯甘油”，并更改了有效期。

甘油经常被用来制造药用糖浆和牙膏。

A Chinese official says businesses in Panama are mainly responsible for the deaths of at least 51 people who used a medicine mixed with a Chinese-made industrial chemical.

Wei Chuangzhong, the vice minister of Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said Thursday that a Chinese company had sold the industrial solvent "TD glycerin" to a Spanish company, which then sold it to Panamanian companies. The product was used to make cough syrup and other medicine.

Wei admitted the Chinese companies had mislabeled the product, which contained 15 percent diethylene glycol - a substance used in paint and antifreeze. However, he said the Panamanian companies were mostly at fault because they had renamed the product as "pure glycerine" and changed its expiration date.

Glycerine is frequently used as syrup in medicines and toothpaste.