By BLOOMBERG NEWS
Published: August 17, 2007

A global hunt started by Johnson & Johnson has tracked to China some counterfeit versions of the test strips used by 10 million Americans to measure their blood sugar levels.

Potentially dangerous copies of the OneTouch Test Strip sold by the company’s LifeScan unit surfaced in American and Canadian pharmacies last year, according to federal court documents unsealed in June. J.& J., one of the world’s largest makers of consumer health products, learned of the bogus test strips from patients’ complaints in September.

Tipped off by the company, the Food and Drug Administration issued a consumer alert without disclosing the link to China. No injuries were reported, but inaccurate test readings may lead a person with diabetes to inject the wrong amount of insulin, causing harm or death.

The investigation found that a distributor in China was the source of about a million fake test strips that have turned up in at least 35 states and eight countries. The trail, initiated by calls to a LifeScan hot line, led detectives to 700 pharmacies where the products were sold, then to eight American wholesalers, then to two importers. One importer was in the United States and was found in a Las Vegas hotel room.

Records seized from the importers showed that the counterfeit strips were bought from Henry Fu and his company, Halson Pharmaceuticals, which is based in Shanghai. Mr. Fu was arrested by Chinese authorities and remains in prison in China.

Bogus Diabetes Test Strips Traced to Chinese Distributor