Choking because the first cup of milk after heart surgery of mother is fake milk

Love mother, tormented by giving milk to fellow countryman

In recent days, when the case of 573 fake milk products was discovered, the information flooded the newspapers. Ms. LT (Ha Tinh) was shocked when on the list was a product that looked very familiar, which her mother had drunk after heart surgery at a hospital in Hanoi.

She searched through the photo album and found the exact type of milk with the bold red logo that stood out: Nitrogen, which her mother had drunk after her major heart surgery. "I felt a bitter, choking feeling in my chest because the first glass of milk after my mother's heart surgery was fake milk," Ms. T. shared with Dan Tri reporter.

Ms. T. said that her mother had heart surgery in June 2024. After the surgery, her mother was in a sterile room, with limited access for family members. Medical staff here said that during the post-operative monitoring period, family members need to buy diapers, milk, tissues, cups... if they don't have time to prepare, they have prepared a complete combo package, all you need to do is pay.

"I agreed immediately because my mother had just had surgery and her children were still confused and worried. And at that time, I had no idea about fake milk," said Ms. T.

Photo of the milk box taken by Ms. T. while her mother was in the hospital (Photo: Provided by the character).

When her mother was transferred to the hospital room, seeing the milk box labeled "for people with kidney failure, people with diabetes", Ms. T. still had a fleeting thought in her mind, her mother did not have diabetes, why were they selling this type of milk. She even took a picture of the ingredients to ask.

"Luckily, the milk box was almost intact when I opened it. Mom said that in the sterile room, they made 2-3 glasses of milk for her. When they went out to the room, they saw strange milk and told her to stop giving it to her."

She choked on the bitterness because the first glass of milk her mother drank after the major surgery was fake. But what made Ms. T. even more tormented was that she gave the milk box to a fellow patient in the same room when she and her mother were discharged from the hospital. Later, it was said that she did not survive the surgery.

"I had no idea that the milk box was fake. It was a way for patients to share their feelings with each other. But now that I know, I can't escape the feeling of remorse...", Ms. T. said.

In another case, a young mother in Hanoi, who just gave birth on March 15 at a hospital in the capital, drank an entire box of Nitrogen milk after giving birth, hoping to "have milk" and be healthy enough to take care of her child.

"I just gave birth, drank the whole box of milk and was shocked to know that it was fake milk. I had a cesarean section and didn't have enough milk to breastfeed my baby, so I tried to drink it to have milk but I didn't expect...", Ms. TP (32 years old, Hanoi) shared.

Sharing with Dan Tri reporter, Ms. P. said she was "very worried, not knowing what to do" when she discovered that the milk she was drinking was fake.

Ms. P. drank the whole carton of milk after giving birth, hoping to have enough milk to breastfeed her baby (Photo: Provided by the character).

"My husband told me that when I entered the operating room, a medical staff member told me to buy milk for my wife to drink after the surgery. The milk box cost 400,000 VND. After giving birth, I didn't know anything and just drank it.

When a pregnant woman in the same room also bought this type of milk, but did not drink it because she saw that it was produced in Chuong My, she asked her husband to exchange it but they did not allow it, the box was still intact, I did not suspect anything, and continued to drink it all," Ms. P. said.

According to this mother, when she drinks milk, she doesn't have any special taste, she just feels like she's not as fat as when she breastfeeds.

573 fake milk labels exposed and suspicion of fake milk entering hospitals

On April 12, the community was shocked when the media reported that 573 brands of powdered milk for people with diabetes, kidney failure, premature babies, and pregnant women were discovered by the Ministry of Public Security to have quality below 70% of the declared level.

Fake milk products discovered (Photo: VTV).

According to authorities, from August 2021 to present, the subjects have established Rance Pharma International Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company and Hacofood Group Nutrition Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company to produce and trade powdered milk.

573 brands of powdered milk for people with diabetes, kidney failure, premature babies, pregnant women... have been produced and sold by the above 2 companies, bringing in revenue of nearly 500 billion VND in about 4 years.

These milk brands are advertised and announced to contain bird's nest extract, cordyceps, macadamia powder, walnut powder...

Thousands of people have drunk these fake milk products, and have had so much worry and anxiety when buying nutritional products for their loved ones to nourish them when they are sick, but it turns out to be fake milk.

"Healthy people are one thing, but they target people with health problems, illness, and children. It's so immoral," Ms. L. said indignantly.

VTV editor Thu Ha also shared her shock and heartache when, 4 months after her husband's difficult brain surgery, she discovered that the first cups of nutritional milk given to her husband at the hospital were fake.

"When he just woke up from surgery, following everyone's advice, I thought about supplementing his nutrition with milk.

At that time, all I could think about was how to help him recover quickly, so I quickly bought a type of milk available at a store near the hospital.

Honestly, in that chaotic situation, I was not sober enough to carefully check the origin or brand of the product. I simply thought that, in places near a large hospital like this, the products for patients must be of guaranteed quality," Editor Thu Ha recalled.

On the afternoon of April 17, the 108 Military Central Hospital issued an announcement that caused a stir in public opinion, when Hofumil Gold Plus milk products from a fake milk production company were circulated in the hospital.

A representative of the 108 Central Military Hospital said that immediately after the media published information that the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency had dismantled a ring producing, trading, and consuming fake milk powder and warned that there were many products for patients, the hospital conducted a check.

According to the 108 Military Central Hospital, this milk product entered the hospital through bidding according to regulations. If it is discovered to be fake, both the hospital and the users will be victims (Photo: Minh Nhat).

Through screening, the hospital discovered that Hofumil Gold Plus milk was on the list of milk products produced by one of the above companies.

Although there is no information from the authorities about whether the Hofumil Gold Plus milk product is fake or not, since April 12, the hospital's leaders have directed professional units to stop advising on the use of this milk product and recall this product to return it to the supplier.

"The hospital will also work with the patient to request the supplier to refund the amount of money spent on the product to protect the patient's rights. At the same time, the hospital will also contact the patient who was advised to use this milk product and recommend that they stop using it," said the hospital leader.

"The Hofumil Gold Plus milk product used in the Hospital has gone through a public bidding process in accordance with the law. Therefore, if the Hofumil Gold Plus milk product is concluded by the authorities to be a counterfeit product, the Hospital and the patients will be the victims of this incident," said a representative of the 108 Central Military Hospital.

Sharing about the situation of fake milk being able to infiltrate hospitals, and medical staff being able to advise patients to use milk, the director of a central hospital in Hanoi said that these are two completely different stories.

"Neither medical staff nor patients have the ability to detect fake milk or fake medicine, that is the responsibility of the authorities. As for medical staff advising on milk, if it is a good nutritional product, then for patients, it has a certain value. This advice becomes a "big deal" when the product is later determined to be fake," said this leader.

He also confirmed that at the hospital where he works, there is currently no milk or dietary supplements sold at the hospital pharmacy system.

Nearly 600 fake products are "self-declared" by local businesses

According to the leader of the Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health), 100% of the fake milk samples that were just discovered were announced by the businesses at the local Food Safety Department. About 10% of the 573 fake milk brands had their quality announced at the Hanoi Food Safety Department, the rest were announced in Hoa Binh, Vinh Phuc and other localities.

In Hanoi, Mr. Nguyen Quang Trung - Deputy Head of the Hanoi Food Safety Department said: "From 2021 to 2023, the unit received a total of 71 product self-declaration registration dossiers from two companies Rance Pharma and Hacofood. Of which, 67 dossiers were from Rance Pharma and 4 dossiers were from Hacofood".

According to Mr. Trung, among these 71 records, most are nutritional products and none are products for people with diabetes, kidney failure, premature babies and pregnant women.

According to Mr. Trung, according to the provisions of Decree 15, the facility only has to submit a test report of safety indicators issued by the Ministry of Health according to the principle of risk management.

The Decree does not require quality index testing certificates. This also leads to the situation where businesses do not test product quality indexes when submitting documents, because it is not mandatory.

Therefore, the unit cannot require businesses to submit additional test reports, because they are not included in the regulations.

Regarding post-inspection, based on the guidance in Decree 15, management is based on the principle of risk management. Test which factors directly affect people's health, specifically safety indicators.

In 2023, the department inspected the products of 2 companies involved in the fake milk production case. The inspection team randomly took samples of products in the warehouse: 4 samples from Rance Pharma and one sample from Hacofood.

In this test, the test results of all samples met safety standards.

The leader of the Food Safety Department said that giving the right to declare products to businesses will create transparency in administrative procedures.

On the evening of April 17, the Department of Food Safety (Ministry of Health) issued an official dispatch requesting relevant units to notify all cadres, civil servants, public employees, and workers (including retired workers of the Unit) about the regulation that doctors and medical staff are not allowed to advertise food.

According to regulations, do not use images, equipment, costumes, names, correspondence of medical units, facilities, doctors, pharmacists, medical staff, thank you letters from patients, articles of doctors, pharmacists, medical staff to advertise food.

Thus, it is a violation of the law for medical staff (including retirees) to advertise food.

The Ministry of Health requires units to notify employees of the above, and at the same time review, inspect, and handle according to authority or recommend competent authorities to handle if there are violations.

On the same day, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh issued a telegram, assigning the Ministry of Public Security the task of speeding up the investigation and soon drawing conclusions on the case of producing and trading fake milk and fake medicine, and bringing violators to trial.

Regarding the Ministry of Health, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Health to closely coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security in investigating and handling cases of counterfeit drug trafficking, because medicines and health protection foods are goods that directly affect people's health and lives.

The Prime Minister requested the recall of counterfeit drugs and fake health protection foods that have been discovered, and the timely prevention and minimization of the harmful effects of using these products.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/nghen-dang-vi-coc-sua-dau-tien-sau-ca-mo-tim-cua-me-la-sua-gia-20250417210257947.htm