What exactly is the "medicine" being sold in the veterinary drug market's gourd?
What medicine is being sold in the veterinary drug "gourd"?
What medicine is being sold in the veterinary drug "gourd"?
Southern Rural Daily reporter Zhong Yiqun
At the National Veterinary Drug Conference held in Nanjing in September, numerous attending experts and scholars carried out profound criticism and reflection on counterfeit and substandard veterinary drugs (see pages 13-14 of the October 2009 issue of "Breeding Treasure"). Posts discussing the chaotic phenomena of the veterinary drug market have also recently appeared on related websites. In a topic on the Chinese Animal Husbandry Forum about "What exactly is contained in the veterinary drug gourd?", from the many posts one may perhaps glimpse: what medicine is actually being sold in the veterinary drug "gourd"?
Dazzling trade names
The vast majority of farmers, when purchasing veterinary drugs, certainly pay considerable attention to the trade names on the packaging. The trade names of veterinary drugs are indeed extremely chaotic; one kind of veterinary drug may have more than ten trade names. Using "won't rest until the words shock" to describe the degree of importance veterinary drug manufacturers attach to trade names is not an exaggeration at all. Their purpose is only one: to attract customers. Netizen "Xuenong Aihong" listed several trade names that make people laugh helplessly: Xietingfeng (Nicholas Tse), Hubilai (Kublai), Shazi Yi Zhen, Liangjian, Gangan Jingjing, Da Yao Bao... Netizen Lu Weiben pointed out that penicillin is given the title cef××, doxycycline is given the title honggong××, sulfonamide is given the title fu×lai, and there are also the heart-stirring Shuangying××, ××Fengbao, ××Yijue, Lijian, and so on. Pig farmers see the name and think of its meaning, believing that using this drug really can achieve a "win-win" and really can eliminate disease like a storm or a sharp sword.
In addition, in order to attract attention, some merchants deliberately use rare drug names to create mystery and deceive consumers. Manufacturers exploit legal blind spots by not using common drug names and specifically using obscure names to fool users. Lu Weiben gave examples: metamizole sodium is analgin, gentamicin is gentamicin, danuoxing is danofloxacin, keminqin is decloxizine, and so on. Even many highly specialized professionals are lost in the fog when faced with rare drug names, thinking they are new drugs, while ordinary pig farmers have no way of recognizing them at all.
Lu Weiben said that people think the better the packaging, the better the drug. This psychological misconception is precisely exploited by veterinary drug merchants, who then go to the utmost lengths in packaging, with colors more brilliant and paper more exquisite than human medicines. He believes that packaging indeed needs to meet GMP requirements, but excessive refinement increases the burden on pig farmers, and if it is linked to inferior drug quality, it probably cannot escape the suspicion of disguise and deception.
Netizen Yang Xiangli stated that actually one of the main purposes of the state's move from local standards to national standards was to standardize veterinary drug names. Veterinary drug trade names cannot have characters homophonous with drugs, diseases, and so on. This is very good and can no longer tempt farmers. Many products indeed did not use [such names] when applying for approval, but when leaving the factory they were given a new trade name again, reverting to the old ways, still the same as before the upgrade.
In fact, China has strict regulations on the naming of veterinary drug trade names. Article 6 of the "Principles for Naming Veterinary Drug Trade Names" stipulates: exaggerated propaganda or deceptive wording shall not be used; Article 9 stipulates: wording that unscientifically indicates efficacy or expands or exaggerates product efficacy shall not be used; Article 10 stipulates: wording that explicitly or implicitly indicates suitability for all diseases shall not be used.
Compound drugs flooding everywhere
Various trade names have already left consumers completely confused. Then, inside the gorgeous packaging, what medicine is actually contained in this "medicine gourd"? Netizen liao7788 said bluntly that what is in the veterinary drug gourd only the manufacturer knows, but it can be said with certainty that most of the drugs currently used are compound preparations. In fact, the state issued explicit regulations last year that compound preparations cannot exist, but because management is not strict, manufacturers simply report only one ingredient when applying for approval. He said that actually we only need to think about it to understand: if manufacturers only produced single preparations, would their profits be this high?
This view was endorsed by many netizens. Netizen Lu Weiben disclosed merchants' tricks in veterinary drug ingredients. For example, in compound preparations one often sees ingredients such as: immune-enhancing active factor, antitussive and antiasthmatic factor, anti-allergic factor, amp synergistic carrier, and so on. In fact, "factor" is a general term for multiple substances with the same effect, but it can give people a vague, unknowable sense of high technology; and "amp synergistic carrier" should be something that cannot be found at all.
In addition, he also gave an example: among state-permitted compound antibacterial preparations (only specific antibacterial drugs are permitted to be combined with antibacterial synergists), such as sultamicillin, each vial has a total content of 0.75 grams, but when calculating dosage only the 0.5 grams of ampicillin within it can be counted. However, on the instructions of a certain veterinary drug "××Fengbao", this is not the case. That preparation has a total content of 5 grams, with the active ingredient ceftiofur sodium at 1 gram. Logically it could only be used for 33 kg of body weight, but the instructions state it is for 150 kg of body weight. How can treating disease this way cure the illness? But because it contains an antipyretic, the apparent efficacy makes pig farmers firmly believe in it.
As for practices that exaggerate drug efficacy, such as long-acting oxytetracycline being able to treat toxoplasmosis, sulfonamides being able to treat eperythrozoonosis and circovirus disease, and ribavirin, moroxydine, and acyclovir being able to treat blue ear disease, these are even more commonplace.
What is even more frightening is that some merchants, in order to make more money, do not hesitate to tamper with compatibility so that farmers repeatedly use drugs, thereby achieving the goal of making money. For example, the reason antipyretic drugs cannot be compounded with antibacterial drugs is that antipyretic drugs can mask the true efficacy of antibacterial drugs and can temporarily reduce fever even in cases where antibacterial drugs are ineffective, creating the situation where using the drug reduces fever, the animal seems a bit better and eats a little, but once the drug is stopped the body temperature rises again, and ultimately because infection cannot be resisted, it ends with a dead pig.
Netizen "Xuenong Aihong" believes that veterinary drug producers' large compound preparations are deformed products adapted to the market's eagerness for quick success and instant benefit, because current breeding disease prevention and control still mainly relies on treating illness frantically when it becomes urgent, without forming a scientific and efficient preventive healthcare system, leading market profit drivers to drive blind production.
Netizen nzhqlucky then offered a bit of dark humor: only the pig knows what drugs are in the formula, because the pig is the one taking the medicine.
Supervision and quality need improvement
While criticizing the unscrupulous behavior of veterinary drug merchants, some netizens also complained that veterinary drug companies actually have no choice but to do this, because they must cater to farmers' needs. In addition, netizens also had quite a few complaints about inadequate government supervision.
Netizen Xiling Xueshan stated that while it is certainly not good for veterinary drug companies to do this, in many cases they actually have no alternative. Because with current national-standard products, if instructions and boxes are written according to pharmacopoeia regulations, no one buys them at all. He once went to the grassroots level in Hubei for a few days and also recommended national-standard veterinary drugs to farmers. Everyone saw that they did not even have trade names and said such simple products were not good.
Netizen "Xuenong Aihong" also discussed this point. He said farmers often like veterinary drugs that produce immediate results, believing these are good products. Thus, in order to cater to farmers' needs, merchants consider antipyretic, analgesic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, immunity-enhancing, and so on all in one formula. But who is seriously summarizing the adverse reactions or even toxic effects of such compound drugs? In order to achieve results that satisfy farmers, merchants use large compound formulas and large doses, achieving comprehensive coverage, with antipyretic, analgesic, antibacterial, and antiviral all indispensable. As for the toxic side effects produced by doing so, the animals will not say anyway. But often because it treats the symptoms but not the root cause, the root cause is not eliminated, causing repeated disease, multiple infections, and even heavier pathogenic and drug-induced damage, until the animal cannot endure it and dies.
But netizen Wenjia does not think so. He said that even though the drug ingredient is clearly enrofloxacin, the veterinary drug factory renames it "Junliqing" or something else, then makes the packaging look very attractive and sets the price very high, all to fool ordinary people! After all, most pig farmers in China are peasants who have not received professional training. They originally do not understand drug incompatibilities. They only look at the name and interpret it literally. Whichever name sounds good, they spend a high price to buy a drug that was originally very simple, and of course the effect is similar to conventional efficacy.
Netizen yxy3208 believes that in the final analysis it is still a systemic problem; the root is broken, and this is just like the famous prisoner's dilemma in economics, with no solution. Netizen "Siliao Yiren" also stated that the chaos in the veterinary drug market is caused by the competent authorities' connivance toward manufacturers. He believes that if products from every manufacturer were spot-checked at irregular intervals, unqualified ones had their approval numbers revoked, and penalties were increased, then compound drugs would probably have nowhere to hide.
--------------------------------------
Good
Good
Good
Indeed very good
That is really how it is
--------------------------------------
Written very truthfully, calling for improvement. Some manufacturers even advertise their packaging! It has gotten to the point that farmers now like to use iron boxes and not bags, saying that if the packaging is not good it is not from a big manufacturer. Headache
--------------------------------------
Well written! Reality is really like this; compound drugs are very hard to use and a single careless mistake can lead to error.
--------------------------------------
The original poster is right, especially for a beginner like me, when buying medicine I do not even know which one to buy
--------------------------------------
Just one word: good
--------------------------------------
The original poster's analysis is very incisive. The circulation links of veterinary drugs are indeed like this, and supervisory departments need to make great efforts to rectify from the source.
--------------------------------------
The viewpoint is good, but unfortunately it cannot work. Nowadays people put money first. Of course government management requires management fees. The principle is straight, but the road is forever crooked!
--------------------------------------
This is indeed the current state of China's veterinary drug industry today! The concepts of farmers must be changed by us veterinary drug salespeople and technicians. The task is heavy and the road is long!
Southern Rural Daily reporter Zhong Yiqun
At the National Veterinary Drug Conference held in Nanjing in September, numerous attending experts and scholars carried out profound criticism and reflection on counterfeit and substandard veterinary drugs (see pages 13-14 of the October 2009 issue of "Breeding Treasure"). Posts discussing the chaotic phenomena of the veterinary drug market have also recently appeared on related websites. In a topic on the Chinese Animal Husbandry Forum about "What exactly is contained in the veterinary drug gourd?", from the many posts one may perhaps glimpse: what medicine is actually being sold in the veterinary drug "gourd"?
Dazzling trade names
The vast majority of farmers, when purchasing veterinary drugs, certainly pay considerable attention to the trade names on the packaging. The trade names of veterinary drugs are indeed extremely chaotic; one kind of veterinary drug may have more than ten trade names. Using "won't rest until the words shock" to describe the degree of importance veterinary drug manufacturers attach to trade names is not an exaggeration at all. Their purpose is only one: to attract customers. Netizen "Xuenong Aihong" listed several trade names that make people laugh helplessly: Xietingfeng (Nicholas Tse), Hubilai (Kublai), Shazi Yi Zhen, Liangjian, Gangan Jingjing, Da Yao Bao... Netizen Lu Weiben pointed out that penicillin is given the title cef××, doxycycline is given the title honggong××, sulfonamide is given the title fu×lai, and there are also the heart-stirring Shuangying××, ××Fengbao, ××Yijue, Lijian, and so on. Pig farmers see the name and think of its meaning, believing that using this drug really can achieve a "win-win" and really can eliminate disease like a storm or a sharp sword.
In addition, in order to attract attention, some merchants deliberately use rare drug names to create mystery and deceive consumers. Manufacturers exploit legal blind spots by not using common drug names and specifically using obscure names to fool users. Lu Weiben gave examples: metamizole sodium is analgin, gentamicin is gentamicin, danuoxing is danofloxacin, keminqin is decloxizine, and so on. Even many highly specialized professionals are lost in the fog when faced with rare drug names, thinking they are new drugs, while ordinary pig farmers have no way of recognizing them at all.
Lu Weiben said that people think the better the packaging, the better the drug. This psychological misconception is precisely exploited by veterinary drug merchants, who then go to the utmost lengths in packaging, with colors more brilliant and paper more exquisite than human medicines. He believes that packaging indeed needs to meet GMP requirements, but excessive refinement increases the burden on pig farmers, and if it is linked to inferior drug quality, it probably cannot escape the suspicion of disguise and deception.
Netizen Yang Xiangli stated that actually one of the main purposes of the state's move from local standards to national standards was to standardize veterinary drug names. Veterinary drug trade names cannot have characters homophonous with drugs, diseases, and so on. This is very good and can no longer tempt farmers. Many products indeed did not use [such names] when applying for approval, but when leaving the factory they were given a new trade name again, reverting to the old ways, still the same as before the upgrade.
In fact, China has strict regulations on the naming of veterinary drug trade names. Article 6 of the "Principles for Naming Veterinary Drug Trade Names" stipulates: exaggerated propaganda or deceptive wording shall not be used; Article 9 stipulates: wording that unscientifically indicates efficacy or expands or exaggerates product efficacy shall not be used; Article 10 stipulates: wording that explicitly or implicitly indicates suitability for all diseases shall not be used.
Compound drugs flooding everywhere
Various trade names have already left consumers completely confused. Then, inside the gorgeous packaging, what medicine is actually contained in this "medicine gourd"? Netizen liao7788 said bluntly that what is in the veterinary drug gourd only the manufacturer knows, but it can be said with certainty that most of the drugs currently used are compound preparations. In fact, the state issued explicit regulations last year that compound preparations cannot exist, but because management is not strict, manufacturers simply report only one ingredient when applying for approval. He said that actually we only need to think about it to understand: if manufacturers only produced single preparations, would their profits be this high?
This view was endorsed by many netizens. Netizen Lu Weiben disclosed merchants' tricks in veterinary drug ingredients. For example, in compound preparations one often sees ingredients such as: immune-enhancing active factor, antitussive and antiasthmatic factor, anti-allergic factor, amp synergistic carrier, and so on. In fact, "factor" is a general term for multiple substances with the same effect, but it can give people a vague, unknowable sense of high technology; and "amp synergistic carrier" should be something that cannot be found at all.
In addition, he also gave an example: among state-permitted compound antibacterial preparations (only specific antibacterial drugs are permitted to be combined with antibacterial synergists), such as sultamicillin, each vial has a total content of 0.75 grams, but when calculating dosage only the 0.5 grams of ampicillin within it can be counted. However, on the instructions of a certain veterinary drug "××Fengbao", this is not the case. That preparation has a total content of 5 grams, with the active ingredient ceftiofur sodium at 1 gram. Logically it could only be used for 33 kg of body weight, but the instructions state it is for 150 kg of body weight. How can treating disease this way cure the illness? But because it contains an antipyretic, the apparent efficacy makes pig farmers firmly believe in it.
As for practices that exaggerate drug efficacy, such as long-acting oxytetracycline being able to treat toxoplasmosis, sulfonamides being able to treat eperythrozoonosis and circovirus disease, and ribavirin, moroxydine, and acyclovir being able to treat blue ear disease, these are even more commonplace.
What is even more frightening is that some merchants, in order to make more money, do not hesitate to tamper with compatibility so that farmers repeatedly use drugs, thereby achieving the goal of making money. For example, the reason antipyretic drugs cannot be compounded with antibacterial drugs is that antipyretic drugs can mask the true efficacy of antibacterial drugs and can temporarily reduce fever even in cases where antibacterial drugs are ineffective, creating the situation where using the drug reduces fever, the animal seems a bit better and eats a little, but once the drug is stopped the body temperature rises again, and ultimately because infection cannot be resisted, it ends with a dead pig.
Netizen "Xuenong Aihong" believes that veterinary drug producers' large compound preparations are deformed products adapted to the market's eagerness for quick success and instant benefit, because current breeding disease prevention and control still mainly relies on treating illness frantically when it becomes urgent, without forming a scientific and efficient preventive healthcare system, leading market profit drivers to drive blind production.
Netizen nzhqlucky then offered a bit of dark humor: only the pig knows what drugs are in the formula, because the pig is the one taking the medicine.
Supervision and quality need improvement
While criticizing the unscrupulous behavior of veterinary drug merchants, some netizens also complained that veterinary drug companies actually have no choice but to do this, because they must cater to farmers' needs. In addition, netizens also had quite a few complaints about inadequate government supervision.
Netizen Xiling Xueshan stated that while it is certainly not good for veterinary drug companies to do this, in many cases they actually have no alternative. Because with current national-standard products, if instructions and boxes are written according to pharmacopoeia regulations, no one buys them at all. He once went to the grassroots level in Hubei for a few days and also recommended national-standard veterinary drugs to farmers. Everyone saw that they did not even have trade names and said such simple products were not good.
Netizen "Xuenong Aihong" also discussed this point. He said farmers often like veterinary drugs that produce immediate results, believing these are good products. Thus, in order to cater to farmers' needs, merchants consider antipyretic, analgesic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, immunity-enhancing, and so on all in one formula. But who is seriously summarizing the adverse reactions or even toxic effects of such compound drugs? In order to achieve results that satisfy farmers, merchants use large compound formulas and large doses, achieving comprehensive coverage, with antipyretic, analgesic, antibacterial, and antiviral all indispensable. As for the toxic side effects produced by doing so, the animals will not say anyway. But often because it treats the symptoms but not the root cause, the root cause is not eliminated, causing repeated disease, multiple infections, and even heavier pathogenic and drug-induced damage, until the animal cannot endure it and dies.
But netizen Wenjia does not think so. He said that even though the drug ingredient is clearly enrofloxacin, the veterinary drug factory renames it "Junliqing" or something else, then makes the packaging look very attractive and sets the price very high, all to fool ordinary people! After all, most pig farmers in China are peasants who have not received professional training. They originally do not understand drug incompatibilities. They only look at the name and interpret it literally. Whichever name sounds good, they spend a high price to buy a drug that was originally very simple, and of course the effect is similar to conventional efficacy.
Netizen yxy3208 believes that in the final analysis it is still a systemic problem; the root is broken, and this is just like the famous prisoner's dilemma in economics, with no solution. Netizen "Siliao Yiren" also stated that the chaos in the veterinary drug market is caused by the competent authorities' connivance toward manufacturers. He believes that if products from every manufacturer were spot-checked at irregular intervals, unqualified ones had their approval numbers revoked, and penalties were increased, then compound drugs would probably have nowhere to hide.
--------------------------------------
Good
Good
Good
Indeed very good
That is really how it is
--------------------------------------
Written very truthfully, calling for improvement. Some manufacturers even advertise their packaging! It has gotten to the point that farmers now like to use iron boxes and not bags, saying that if the packaging is not good it is not from a big manufacturer. Headache
--------------------------------------
Well written! Reality is really like this; compound drugs are very hard to use and a single careless mistake can lead to error.
--------------------------------------
The original poster is right, especially for a beginner like me, when buying medicine I do not even know which one to buy
--------------------------------------
Just one word: good
--------------------------------------
The original poster's analysis is very incisive. The circulation links of veterinary drugs are indeed like this, and supervisory departments need to make great efforts to rectify from the source.
--------------------------------------
The viewpoint is good, but unfortunately it cannot work. Nowadays people put money first. Of course government management requires management fees. The principle is straight, but the road is forever crooked!
--------------------------------------
This is indeed the current state of China's veterinary drug industry today! The concepts of farmers must be changed by us veterinary drug salespeople and technicians. The task is heavy and the road is long!