|
 Authorities in the Chinese port city of Tianjin had said in December
that they were investigating TCM firm Quanjian Group over
allegations including false marketing.
The official local Tianjin Daily reported on Monday that police has
arrested Quanjian founder Shu Yuhui and 17 others. The story was
widely picked up by national state media.
An official at the Wuqing office of the Tianjin Administration for
Market Regulation confirmed the arrests to Reuters but declined to
comment further.
An employee in Quanjian's customer service department told Reuters
that authorities were dealing with the matter but declined to
provide further comment on the arrests.
Reuters could not reach Shu for comment.
Quanjian, headquartered in the northeastern city of Tianjin, has
been under fire after an article recounting the death of a
four-year-old girl from cancer went viral on social media. The girl
had received a treatment from the firm.
[to top of second column] |
Chinese people expressed anger over the case and shared their own
experiences about how the company overstated the efficacy of its
treatments. Some criticized Quanjian for operating a pyramid scheme
for sales.
Operators of pyramid schemes typically make money by recruiting
members, who pay fees to act as salespeople of goods, rather than
relying on the sale of the goods themselves.
Founded in 2004, Quanjian has expanded into an empire with billions
of yuan in sales and many hospitals and stores, local media
reported. The company says it also owns sports clubs.
The Quanjian case has become one of the most widely discussed health
cases since it went viral in late 2018, underscoring public concern
over medical problems in China that range from a lack of doctors to
slow approvals for new drugs.
The case also has echoes of an incident in 2016 when the death of a
student drew attention to misleading advertising after he used
search engine Baidu Inc to look for treatment for his rare form of
cancer.
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
