China sentences 7 to prison for toxic gel capsules

Beijing, Feb 7 (AP) A Chinese court has sentenced seven people to prison for producing chromium-tainted gel medicine capsules, state media said today. The scandal that was exposed in April 2012 was another in a series of such cases in China which have rocked a pharmaceutical industry contending with abundant fakery and substandard ingredients. The official Xinhua News Agency today said that the seven received sentences of up to 11 years for producing and selling toxic products. They were sentenced yesterday in a court in the eastern Zhejiang province. It says three companies run by them made and sold drug capsules with industrial gelatin � which contained excessive levels of chromium � between 2010 and April 2012. (AP) KKM DBR 02072206 NNNN