Health News
Latest health news and updates
Total: 29
China’s TCM Clean‑Up: Regulatory Clock Ticks on ‘Unknown’ Safety Claims
China’s National Medical Products Administration is enforcing a rule that will bar re‑registration of traditional patent medicines whose package inserts still state key safety items as “not yet clear.” The measure aims to eliminate low‑use and poorly documented approvals, compel firms to supply safety data, and accelerate consolidation in an industry long criticised for uneven evidence on safety and efficacy.
Foreign Patients Flock to Chinese Hospitals: From SIBO Tests to Overnight Flights, China Emerges as a Medical Magnet
An American patient and several expatriates are increasingly flying to China for faster, cheaper medical care, helped by hospital internationalisation and concierge "escorts" who manage logistics and translation. Chinese hospitals and private firms are actively courting overseas patients, but scaling the trend raises questions about capacity, regulation and quality assurance.
China Tightens Safety Rules for Patent Chinese Medicines, Threatening 40,000 Formulations
China will bar registration renewals for patent Chinese medicines that still list safety information as “unclear” after July 1, 2026. Roughly 40,000 of 57,000 licensed products currently carry such wording and must revise labels or face delisting, a move framed as patient‑safety enforcement but contested by some practitioners and consumers.
Chinese Drugmaker Huadong Advances RNAi Weight‑loss Candidate into Preclinical Studies
Huadong Medicine and Suzhou Shian Biotech have confirmed a preclinical siRNA candidate aimed at an innovative weight‑loss mechanism and entered preclinical research. The move underscores China’s push into RNAi therapeutics for metabolic disease, but substantial scientific, delivery and regulatory challenges lie ahead before any clinical testing.
China’s COVID Pill VV116 Shows Promise Against Deadly Nipah Virus — But Clinical and Commercial Hurdles Remain
A Wuhan Institute-led study finds that VV116, an oral antiviral developed in China for COVID-19, inhibits Nipah virus in cell cultures and improves survival in a rodent model. The result offers a potential stopgap against a pathogen with high fatality and no approved treatments, but clinical trials and regulatory approval are still required before human use. Corporate partners gave mixed responses and markets briefly rallied on the news.
Chinese Researchers Unveil Dye-Free Near‑Infrared Imaging That Sharpens Liver Tumour Margins in Surgery
Researchers at Fudan University and Huashan Hospital report a label‑free near‑infrared imaging technique (TANI) that visualizes liver tumour margins in real time without injected contrast. Published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, the method uses endogenous autofluorescence in the NIR‑II band to produce high‑contrast images while avoiding interference from blood, bile and cirrhosis.
When Charity Runs a Hospital: The Financial Fault Lines Behind China’s ‘Philanthropic’ Pediatric Clinic
A rent dispute at Beijing’s Yanan Angel Children’s Hospital has exposed a systemic tension in Chinese philanthropic medicine: charitable funds are legally restricted to specific patient care and cannot be used to subsidise hospital running costs. The case highlights the unsustainability of heavy-asset charity hospitals and renews calls for clearer rules, better disclosure and hybrid models that combine philanthropy with market-based revenue or light-asset partnerships.
A Tsunami of Donations, but the Law Keeps Out the Lifeboats: What Li Yapeng’s Crisis Reveals About China’s Charity Gap
An online storm of donations for Li Yapeng’s Yanran hospital revealed a legal and structural divide: funds raised for the Yanran Angel Fund cannot legally pay the hospital’s rent because the fund and hospital are separate entities under Chinese charity law. The episode spotlights the limits of celebrity-driven philanthropy and the need for sustainable financing and clearer regulations for China’s non-profit medical sector.
When Compassion Meets the Balance Sheet: The Crisis of a Chinese Charity Hospital
Yanran Angel Children’s Hospital, founded through a high-profile charitable drive in China, has faced enforced eviction for unpaid rent despite raising large sums for patient care. The crisis exposes structural gaps between charitable intent and the necessities of running a hospital: rigid earmarking rules, weak fundraising qualifications, uneven policy support, and governance challenges for founder-led institutions.
When Viral Sympathy Meets Red Tape: How Li Yapeng’s Cleft‑Care Hospital Briefly Escaped Closure
A candid video by Li Yapeng triggered a rapid wave of public donations that raised nearly RMB20 million for Yanran Angel’s cleft‑care work, but legal and structural limits mean those funds cannot easily cover the hospital’s rent arrears. The episode highlights the strength of mass micro‑giving in China and the fragility of non‑profit healthcare providers that depend on commercial leases and fragmented funding channels.
JD Health Unveils 'Zhuoyi' 2.0 — A Push to Embed Large‑Scale AI Inside Chinese Hospitals
JD Health unveiled Zhuoyi 2.0, a hospital‑oriented large‑model product designed for full‑scene clinical deployment. The launch highlights Chinese tech firms’ drive to embed generative AI into hospital workflows while raising questions about clinical validation, regulation and data governance.
Sichuan Report Finds Winner Medical Subsidiary’s Masks Fail Safety Tests, Raising Questions about PPE Quality Control
Sichuan regulators announced that two samples of WN‑N95 masks registered to Winner Medical’s Huanggang unit failed safety tests, citing poor filtration, inadequate fit and microbiological contamination. The finding, part of a wider provincial sampling sweep that flagged 17 non‑compliant batches, raises questions about batch control, storage and the scrutiny of PPE suppliers in China.