2024-03-28 09:19:21
Authorities are investigating after Japanese drugmaker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical recalled over-the-counter pills. Responded to customer complaints about kidney dysfunction.
The pharmaceutical company has pulled three brands of dietary supplements containing red yeast rice, or beni koji, from the market.
In medical studies, red yeast rice has been described as an alternative to statins, which are used to lower blood cholesterol levels.
“A total of two people are suspected to have died” and “106 hospitalizations are possibly related,” government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
Supplement maker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical stressed that the company has not reached a conclusion about a causal link between the health conditions and its products.
Dozens of Japanese companies that used beni koji supplied by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical also announced they had stopped buying the ingredient.
Red yeast rice can be used not only for food supplements, but also in the production of alcoholic beverages, salad dressings, bread, and miso paste.
Japan’s Health Minister Keizo Takemi said on Tuesday that the government had ordered Kobayashi Pharmaceutical to immediately provide information on the situation.
The Ministry of Health has also ordered “local authorities across the country to collect information on health damage”, he added, offering condolences to those affected.
Shares of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical fell percentage points on the stock market on Wednesday.
Earlier, the drugmaker said the first person whose death was reported had regularly bought one of the products that was pulled from the shelves for nearly three years.
The company issued a “sincere apology” and said the potential link between supplement use and adverse health effects is still under investigation.
An analysis identified the possibility that the products contained “ingredients that we did not intend to include,” the drugmaker said this week.
However, the company’s analysis did not find citrinin, produced in red yeast rice, which is toxic and can damage the kidneys.
In the past, red yeast rice products, which are high in a compound called monacolin K, which has an analogous structure to medically approved cholesterol-lowering drugs, have been a source of concern.
See page „Medical Xpress“ inf.
2024-03-28 09:19:21