By DIKKY SINN
Associated Press Writer

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police have arrested four employees of a drug manufacturer for allegedly lying about the expiration dates on more than 200 over-the-counter medicines, officials said Friday.

Marching Pharmaceutical Ltd. has had its license suspended for one month while authorities look into claims the company was selling medicines with expiration dates that went beyond a product’s shelf life, a Health Department spokesman said on condition of anonymity, citing internal policy.

Authorities have also ordered the company to recall 216 products — including dozens of cough syrups and antifungal creams, he said.

The spokesman said the products being recalled are low-risk drugs and that there was no immediate risk to human health.

Police arrested four employees Thursday in connection with the case. They have been released on bail pending further investigation, police spokesman T.K. Ng said.

Nobody has fallen ill from using the company’s products, but the Health Department spokesman said “some of the documents provided by this company are not consistent, so we’ve asked police to step in and investigate.”

Repeated calls to MPL rang unanswered Friday.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

–According to http://www.news.gov.hk

Department of Health Chief Pharmacist Anthony Chan stressed that the case only involved product stability – not safety of the products which were low-risk drugs.

The recalled products are low-risk drugs. Most are non-prescription products including vitamins, minerals and cough and cold preparations. Others are prescription topical preparations such as skin creams.

The manufacturer has set up a hotline, 2781 6320, to answer questions.