The Chinese government didn't pursue an investigation into contaminated heparin sent to the U.S. in 2007 and 2008, despite repeated requests from the U.S. for help, according to a congressional probe.

Two House Republicans said Food and Drug Administration officials recently told them that the agency has been "severely hampered" by the lack of cooperation from China in finding those responsible. Contamination in the widely used blood-thinner was linked to at least 81 deaths in the U.S.

The probe by Reps. Joe Barton and Michael Burgess, both of Texas, comes as FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg prepares for her first trip to China since assuming her post last year.

"It is shocking to find out two years after Chinese-made heparin was killing Americans, the Chinese government still has done no investigating to find out why," said Mr. Barton, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He called on Ms. Hamburg to air the issue with Chinese officials.

Yan Jiangying, spokeswoman for China's State Food and Drug Administration, said the congressmen's accusations are "not true."

Ms. Yan said her agency "did a very thorough investigation, including very detailed inspection and testing, and surveys of enterprises as well. We signed an agreement with the FDA on drug safety in the end of 2007, and strengthened the monitoring of heparin."

A spokeswoman for the FDA said Wednesday that "there are serious limitations on what the FDA can do to pursue civil and criminal investigations in foreign countries, especially without the cooperation of the foreign government."

In a June 16 letter to the congressmen, the FDA wrote that it was "denied full access" to manufacturers of raw heparin in China.

Mr. Barton and Mr. Burgess said the FDA told members of Congress that China hasn't had any breakthroughs in the investigation, which they said left the "misleading impression" that "there was some kind of open investigation."

In fact, Chinese security authorities told a U.S. official in Beijing on June 18, 2008, that China wasn't investigating the heparin issue as either a criminal or administrative matter, according to the congressmen.


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