Law to take hard line on vaccines

THE DRAFT VACCINE ADMINISTRATION LAW was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for a second reading on Saturday. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

The draft increases the penalties for the manufacturing and selling of fake or substandard vaccines, and stipulates punitive compensation as high as 30 million yuan ($4.70 million) for knowingly selling or using substandard vaccines.

In the draft drug administration law amended last year, the fines for producing and selling substandard drugs were raised up to 15 times the involved money. That the management of vaccines is to be separately legislated, and fines up to 30 times the value of produced or sold goods are stipulated, reflects the authorities' intensified punishment for illegal behavior in the vaccine field.

The higher penalties reflect the drug regulator's perception that vaccines are different from ordinary drugs and stricter punishments should be meted out to those that violate the law. The harsher draft legislation shows that the legislators understand the social harm that fake and substandard vaccines may cause.

For either producers or sellers of counterfeit or inferior vaccines, all they pursue are personal gain. Thus, the most effective way to combat such illegal behavior is to raise the cost of law violations so that producing fake or substandard vaccines is not profitable. The draft law on vaccines administration fully reflects this way of thinking, especially in the wake of a major vaccine scandal last year involving a major vaccine manufacturer in Jilin province that was fined 9.1 billion yuan for fabricating production records and using expired materials in the production of the rabies vaccine.

Yet fines are only one of the means of punishment; in addition there should be punitive damages and other penalties. The effectiveness and safety of vaccines concern public health. Therefore, the heavier the punishment for offenders, the more effective it will protect the rights and interests of the public.