China's Food & Drug Chief Sentenced To Death

China's former top drug regulator was sentenced to death Tuesday in an unusually harsh punishment for taking bribes to approve substandard medicines, including an antibiotic blamed for at least 10 deaths. The sentence was unusually heavy even for China, which is believed to carry out more court-ordered executions than all other nations combined - and likely indicates the leadership's determination to deal with the recent scares involving unsafe food and drugs.

Well this is one way to insure vigorous oversight of the pharmaceutical and device industries. Certainly would silence the critics who worry about FDA being in cahoots with the industry it regulates!

-Art Caplan