Is China Making 'Stamina Pills' Out of Dead Babies?

Could some of China's pharmaceutical companies be making "stamina pills" from still born and aborted babies? After the airing of a documentary on the Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) in South Korea on August 6, the Chinese Ministry of Health said August 9 they have launched an investigation in the province of Jilin on the issue, according to China Daily.

A rough translation (via Now Public) posted on the SBS schedule listing before the documentary aired revealed that dried baby remains may have been crushed and made into a capsule, that would boost stamina. The documentary team conducted DNA tests on the capsule's contents and found 99.7 percent of the pill was composed of human remains. International Business Times reported that the team also identified hair, nails and the baby's gender.

The documentary team, which claims to have taken video of the manufacturing process in China, quoted inside sources who said the capsules were mainly sent to South Korea.

China Daily has more:

It was not reported which hospital or city in China the team visited.

Phone calls to Customs in Jilin went unanswered on [August 9].

A professor at the Third Hospital of Jilin University said he has never heard of such cases in his two-decade career.

"It's hard to comment, because it looks like a rumor," said the professor, surnamed Zhang. "This is impossible from my professional judgement."

Three traditional Chinese medicine experts and obstetrics doctors in Beijing and Shanghai contacted by China Daily said they have never heard of such cases and it seemed senseless.

It has long been a folk tradition to eat placentas in China. Placentas are believed to make up sperm and support the sufficiency of the blood in traditional Chinese medicine. In China, placentas belong to the mothers of the newborns. Medical institutions will handle a placenta if a mother gives it up or donates it. Nobody is allowed to sell or buy placentas according to the regulation from the Ministry of Health.

It has yet to be confirmed if the manufacturing of pills made from dead babies is actually taking place. But if so, it could be a grotesque discovery.