As China Glorifies Traditional Medicines, Doubters See A Haunted Past
From SARS To COVID, Has China Learned?
Executive Summary
In a key step to prop up traditional Chinese medicines, Beijing has proposed a law that could potentially punish any vocal doubters. The move signals a familiar pattern as China resorts to using old approaches when facing a flurry of new challenges.
Beijing is gathering public comments for a proposed new law on traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), which stirred up an uproar from all walks of life shortly after its release.
The law, drafted after the central government’s vow to revitalize and encourage the development of such products in China, is a part of a nationwide move to legalize the protection of TCMs. Unlike other Chinese provinces which have issued their own similar TCM laws, Beijing has one item in its draft that has evoked widespread outrage.
The draft, released on 29 May, explicitly notes that anyone who “slanders or smears traditional Chinese medicines in any form will be subject to punishment for picking quarrels and provoking trouble” - a frequently used petty crime provision in China.
In a bid to prop up traditional medicines, the Chinese government has issued a national policy designed to lift this type of product's importance on a par with western medicines, the move becoming more pronounced after Chinese President Xi Jinping took power and has been emphasizing traditional culture. Soon after, health authorities banned physicians not practicing in traditional medicines from prescribing these.
Online Dissenters
But the policy support for TCMs now seems to be becoming extreme and the latest draft legislation from the Beijing government is likely to allow law enforcement the power to crush different opinions towards such products which is concerning many in China. The proposals attracted nearly 1,000 comments on one web forum, and many internet users see it as a new form of "censorship".
“In my view, you should feel free to seek traditional medicines and I don’t care. [But] if you tell others that traditional medicines are not working, such comments and suspicions should be allowed," one person commented.
“It’s unacceptable for the law to ban smearing and slandering of TCMs. For one, how do you quantify it? And if I'm not satisfied with TCM treatment, do I have to censor myself to express dissatisfaction? It’s ridiculous!”
Another noted that “The draft law shows that TCM is only a cultural concept not an evidence-based science, because real science is driven by suspicions and debates.”
Only TCMs So Far For Coronavirus
The drive to drum up support for TCMs has also been evident in the race to find a treatment for the coronavirus. Although China was the first country to start a large, placebo-controlled trial with Gilead Sciences Inc.’s antiviral remdesivir, this was eventually suspended due to a lack of patients to enroll in epicenter Wuhan.
Although several other antivirals including AbbVie Inc.'s Kaletra (lopinavir and ritonavir) and Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co. Ltd.'s Avigan (favipiravir) have also been tested extensively in China for COVID-19, the country has so far only officially approved traditional medicines for the disease. (Also see "China Approves First Coronavirus Drugs, Rushes Two Vaccine Trials" - Pink Sheet, 15 Apr, 2020.)
As other countries around the world including the US and Japan and most recently India start approving remdesivir for COVID-19, China is still touting the use of herbal medicines in fighting the pandemic. One of the country’s most renowned physicians, Nanshan Zhong, repeatedly told an audience at an international seminar that one TCM capsule preparation had helped patients in Wuhan to reduce their fever, especially those with mild symptoms.
Doubters see the new legislative move by Beijing as another step to further enshrine TCMs, even though many preparations lack clear clinical evidence and have well-documented harm to liver function. China’s regulatory agency, the National Medical Products Administration, noted in its annual report that traditional medicines account for around 13% of total reported adverse events. In fact, TCMs are a major source of adverse events given their relatively limited use.
Using Old To Fight New
The last time for TCMs to be hailed as the savior in a public health crisis was in 2003, when the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus hit China’s southern city of Guangzhou.
People in the city rushed to buy a herbal preparation called Banlangan, which was hailed as a preventative cure. Later, local medical experts had to clarify that the herb should not be used in everyone for influenza or SARS and in its 2018 treatment guidelines, China’s own Administration of Traditional Medicines did not list the herb as a potential treatment for flu.
Even in China, people are deeply divided about using traditional medicines to treat or prevent coronavirus infection. In a video that has since gone viral, one doubter in Wuhan - where some patients with mild disease were given TCMs in combination with antivirals - intentionally threw his treatment away and posted it online to show it was useless.
Company Scandal
Despite the government policy drive, China's traditional medicines sector is facing a flurry of challenges, ranging from the soaring cost of raw materials and quality concerns over impurities to frequent adverse events.
One nationally known producer, Buchang Pharma, was found to be involved in several high-profile scandals and CEO Tao Zhao was among dozens of rich clients of a broker in the US who paid to place their children in elite schools there. Zhao reportedly gave $6.5m to send his daughter to Stanford University.
In another case, the company was found to have paid around CNY1m ($140,400) to a public relations agency to delete reports and blog posts that gave negative exposure of the company.
Whether the latest draft law in Beijing will have a lasting effect or make the sector even weaker will be closely watched by many.