Chinese health product firm Quanjian scandal widens as public anger grows
- Company linked to child’s cancer death comes under intense scrutiny
- Chaotic regulations and a lack of supervision blamed for dubious industry practices
After 14 years of peddling “magical” shoe soles and edible sanitary pads to the gullible, the Quanjian Group health care empire is facing official scrutiny into every aspect of its operation, as Chinese authorities respond to public anger.
The health products company has been under fire since its marketing practices were linked with the death of a four-year-old girl in an explosive online report on Christmas Day.
Even a giant golden Buddha statue at one of Quanjian Group’s lavish hotel buildings is being looked into by the local religious affairs bureau, with talk of its removal for violating regulations.
Meanwhile China’s internet continues to be flooded with people’s accounts of their own experiences and calls for officials to thoroughly investigate the company, headquartered in the northeastern port city of Tianjin.
The scandal erupted when popular health website Dingxiang Yisheng – or Doctor Clove – recounted the story of Zhou Yang, the four-year-old cancer patient whose image was used by the company to promote its products, even as she lay dying in a hospital bed.
Chinese health care products maker Quanjian under investigation over girl’s death in 2015
To this day, her father Zhou Erli told the South China Morning Post, he regrets the moment he pulled the little girl out of hospital and put her on what he calls a “shady secret prescription” from Quanjian Group.