Deputy Prime Minister requests 'clarification of all hidden corners of VN Pharma case'

Government leaders directed authorities to "be very serious" when inspecting the licensing of the Ministry of Health.

On August 30, at the Government meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said that the case related to VN Pharma is being handled by law enforcement agencies, but public opinion is particularly concerned and many opinions are very indignant, affecting people's trust in the entire health system. "Therefore, it is necessary to direct strict handling of all violations in accordance with the provisions of the law, clarifying all hidden corners," he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister said he has directed the Government Office to issue a document requesting the Ministry of Health to report on the Ministry's state management responsibilities.

"Today, I received the report. The basic content is the same as the Ministry's press release. I have commented: It is necessary to inspect the import licensing and drug registration of the Ministry of Health. On the other hand, I request the competent authorities to clarify issues of public concern. The spirit is to be extremely strict and public," the Deputy Prime Minister stated.

Immediately after Mr. Dam spoke, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc concluded: The Government Inspectorate must conduct inspections of the licensing of the Ministry of Health very seriously, especially when it involves people's health.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam asked the authorities to clarify all hidden corners of the VN Pharma case. Photo: VGP

Previously, on August 24, the Government Office issued a document requesting the Ministry of Health to report before August 31 on the Ministry's State management responsibility for VN Pharma Company's import of fake cancer treatment drugs.

VN Pharma Company was determined by the investigation agency to have falsified import documents for 9,300 boxes of H-Capita 500 mg cancer treatment medicine from the manufacturer Helix Pharmaceuticals Inc., Canada. This batch of medicine was licensed for import by the Drug Administration at the end of December 2013.

In 2014, H-Capita won a bid at the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health at VND31,000 per pill, while the Department's planned price was VND66,000. Doubting Capita's price after the bidding results, the Ministry of Health requested that the relevant agencies coordinate to verify. The Ministry of Health's assessment showed that this batch of medicine contained 97% of the active ingredient capecitabine, which was of poor quality, of unknown origin, and unusable for humans. Documents from the manufacturer Helix in the Capita import dossier were also determined to be fake by the investigation agency.

The case was tried in mid-August, and former VN Pharma Chairman Nguyen Minh Hung was sentenced to 12 years in prison. On August 29, the Ministry of Health affirmed that VN Pharma was licensed to import the Capita batch in accordance with regulations, because it had complete paperwork and documents that were forged in a sophisticated manner, so that at that time, the Ministry's experts could not recognize them with the naked eye.

According to VNE