The first steps to produce crude heparin, the main ingredient in an anti-clotting medicine, often take place in small factories across China -- many of them primitive. At left, bare-handed workers at Yuan Intestine & Casing Factory, in a small farming village in Shandong province, untangle and flush pig intestines that will be used to make the medication. (Gordon Fairclough)
The men wring pulp from pig intestines and heat it in open cement vats. After further processing by more sophisticated plants, the chemical is made into intravenous drugs given to patients around the world having surgery or patients who need kidney dialysis or blood transfusions. (Gordon Fairclough)
The process for getting raw heparin is rather simple. First, the company picks up barrels of pig intestines from slaughterhouses. (Gordon Fairclough)
Workers use a machine to wring the pulp from the inside of the intestines. (Gordon Fairclough)
Since mid-2006, China's pig herds have suffered serious outbreaks of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome. In theory, sick animals are supposed to be rejected, but in practice, enforcement can sometimes be lax. (Gordon Fairclough)
China's Role In Supply Of Drug Is Under Fire