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China police detain parents of children sickened by tainted milk

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Police in China detained five parents of children who became sick after drinking melamine-tainted milk, preventing the parents from participating in a Friday news conference. One of the parents said that they had been given no reason for their detention. Other parents were allowed to host the news conference, calling for research into the long-term effects of melamine, which has sickened almost 300,000 children and killed at least six who drank contaminated milk. The Chinese Ministry of Health said it would continue to give free treatment to infants who have fallen ill after drinking tainted milk, and 22 Chinese dairy firms apologized to the public for the scandal via text message. Also on Friday, New Zealand dairy company Fonterra denied reports that Tian Wenhua, the head of its joint venture in China, had pleaded guilty to charges related to tainted milk. More than 17 defendants have faced criminal charges in connection with the contamination. The trial of four suspects began on Monday, and the trial of another six began last week. On Tuesday, it was announced that Sanlu Group and 21 other dairy companies involved in the contamination were expected to pay $160 million to the families of injured children. News of possible milk powder contamination broke in September, following the death of an infant and reports that at least 50 other infants had fallen ill after consuming baby formula, leading to massive recalls of both liquid milk products and milk powders.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on January 02, 2009 (boomark / email).