Doctor angry at steroid leniency

By MARTIN JOHNSTON and PAULA OLIVER

An Auckland doctor has attacked the Health Ministry for failing to prosecute over "dietary supplements" that contained a potentially fatal steroid drug.

The ministry banned the Malaysian-made Cheng Kum and Shen Loon capsules, but decided against prosecuting Lee Bye, the New Zealand company which imported and distributed them.

The capsules, claimed to contain snake and plant extracts, caused side-effects to five people who took them.

The faces of four puffed up, they gained weight and suffered other symptoms of excessive steroid use, says a report in the Medical Journal today.

The ministry said yesterday that it decided against court action because Lee Bye eventually complied, after a warning, with demands to stop distributing the capsules and helping people to import them.

"It's normal practice to warn people and expect action," said ministry spokesman Peter Pratt.

But Dr Nick Cooper, the first to complain to the ministry about the effects of Cheng Kum on a patient, said yesterday that the failure to prosecute revealed a double standard.

"If it was a doctor who had done this to a patient they would be struck off or be in serious trouble with the Medical Council.

"But because it's a member of the general public that's done it, it's been covered, swept under the carpet."

In the journal article, Northland GP Dr Shane Reti says the doctors of the five patients became suspicious when they saw dramatic improvements in their symptoms.

Initial tests of Cheng Kum, sold in New Zealand since 1999, found no steroid, but did turn up an antihistamine that can be sold only by pharmacies.

In 2000, the ministry advised people to stop taking the capsules, an unregistered medicine, and demanded a recall from outlets.

Later, Australian tests for the ministry found the capsules contained a steroid called betamethasone, a prescription drug used to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

That finding prompted a warning to the public and to the 200 people known to be importing the capsules.

Prolonged use of oral steroids can cause skin damage, acne, osteoporosis, weight gain and increased susceptibility to infection. Coming off them too abruptly can cause health problems and even death.

Aucklander Elizabeth Capper, 65, said yesterday that she obtained remarkable pain relief from Cheng Kum in 2000 while waiting for an operation, which she has since had, to replace an arthritic knee joint.

"I thought it was wonderful."

Mrs Capper, who has diabetes, took the capsules for at least six months until Dr Cooper noticed a skin problem.

He asked what she had been taking and took her off Cheng Kum.

Dr Cooper said yesterday that the large doses of steroids contained in Cheng Kum could make diabetes worse.

Mr Pratt said the capsules had also been banned in Malaysia and Singapore.

"It was basically a counterfeit drug. The person who made it and put the stuff in there is the person committing the fraudulent activity."

Chee Chai Lee, a Wellington panelbeater listed as a director of Lee Bye, said his uncle made the capsules.

The product was "very good. Over 95 per cent of customers are very happy."

He was disappointed about the ban, as were customers, because "they have to go back to suffering".

Mr Lee said the capsules were free of steroids, but some herbs produced a similar substance.

nzherald.co.nz/health