The Consumers' Foundation yesterday warned that as much as 14 percent of Chinese medicine it has inspected contained Western medicine, with some even found to contain traces of diazepam, a Class IV controlled drug.
The foundation inspected 187 types of Chinese medicine and found that 26 samples contained traces of Western medicine.
Thirty-five percent of the Chinese medicine originated from China, which is also a cause for concern because it is a high-risk area given its poor record, the foundation said.
Foundation chairman Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁) said he was disappointed that improvements in the quality of Chinese medicine had not gone far enough.
Since the foundation's last inspection a year ago, the percentage of medicine containing Western medicine had only dropped from 14.7 percent to 13.9 percent this year, he said.
Pain relief medication is the most common form of Chinese drug found to contain traces of Western medicine, accounting for as much as 44 percent of the samples.
Chinese medicine is popular among Taiwanese because of the belief that it is gentler on the body and involves fewer health risks than Western medicine.
The foundation also discovered that some medicine contained traces of diazepam, which could cause addiction in long-term users of the drug.
Saying it would send its inspection reports to the Department of Health, the foundation urged authorities to probe the matter and increase efforts to regulate the Chinese medicine market.
It also advised consumers to check whether the medicine was manufactured by a legitimate GMP qualified pharmaceutical firm and avoid consuming Chinese medicine that comes from unknown sources.
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