China says plasma products tests are negative for HIV

BEIJING – Chinese investigators said tests on a lot of a plasma product feared to have been contaminated with HIV were negative for the virus that causes AIDS.

The result seems to have ruled out the possibility of another scandal involving medical products in the country. Incidents include the falsification of rabies vaccine production records that prompted domestic repression against the industry.

A statement Thursday from the National Medical Products Administration indicates that tests for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C have all been negative.

The samples came from a batch of 12,000 plasma products manufactured by the Chinese company Meheco Xinxing Pharma Co., Ltd., based in Shanghai.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, thousands of Chinese were infected with HIV when they sold blood together and plasma was collected.