Investigators: Patients in China drug deaths were critically ill

NANCHANG, June 5 (Xinhua) -- An investigation into six deaths linked to injections of human immunoglobulin in the eastern province of Jiangxi has found that five patients were critically ill when they received the shots late last month. Immunoglobulin is a protein that behaves like antibodies. The deaths of the five patients at the No. 2 Hospital affiliated with Nanchang University did not arouse the attention of doctors at the very beginning, because the patients were all incritical condition -- either with malignant tumors or immune deficiency syndromes, a spokesman for the investigation team said. Also, doctors said the five patients had been treated in different departments and received injections at different times, the spokesman said. Doctors did not make a connection between the drug and the adverse reactions until the... [read full story]