A Hanoi pharmaceutical firm tried to dump their thrown-away products onto grass fields instead of having properly treated as medical waste.

 Thrown-away bags in the field

On July 9, Lieutenant-Colonel Pham Giang Son, from Hanoi's environment police unit, affirmed that they discovered thousands of boxes of cough syrup, functional food and other products thrown away in a field near Tu Hiep Commune, Thanh Tri District. The products were all labeled as produced by Intechpharm Company.

Intechpharm makes products under contract for Royal Star Company. However, all 1,970 boxes were substandard, so Royal Star Company returned them to Intechpharm. Instead of disposing of the products as medical waste as regulated, Intechpharm simply dumped the boxes at Yen So Park.

 Substandard products

After the act was discovered, Intechpharm quickly cleaned up the site in Yen So Park but still did not dispose them as regulations require. Tran Dinh Kiem, a truck driver said he was hired by the company to transfer the boxes to another field near Tu Hiep Commune. The authorities have ordered Intechpharm to take back the boxes and reseal them.

Nguyen Thanh Ha, Deputy Director of Health Environment Management Agency under the Ministry of Health said substandard medical products must be disposed of in a proper manner. A council should be set up to decide on the safest method in accordance with the law. The company will take all responsibility for not following the rules.