Japan: Heads of Drug Maker Resign Over Potentially Deadly Diet Pills

Facts

• The chairman and president of Japanese drug manufacturer Kobayashi Pharmaceutical have stepped down amid an investigation into whether their dietary supplements are linked to hundreds of deaths.¹
• Company Chairman Kazumasa Kobayashi stepped down Tuesday but will stay at the firm as an advisor. His son and president of the company, Akihiro Kobayashi, will also resign but maintain a role to help compensate potential victims.¹
• The cholesterol-lowering diet pills are made from red yeast rice called beni koji, which has been proven to lower cholesterol but is also connected to organ damage. Reports of kidney failure in those who took the supplement emerged at the beginning of the year.²
• Japan's Health Ministry has reported that 492 people were hospitalized after taking Kobayashi's products, 291 of whom developed kidney issues. Taiwan has since reportedly recalled 154 products made with beni koji.³
• For its part, the company has discovered 279 deaths and over 2.2K hospital visits — of which almost 500 required hospitalization — potentially linked to its beni koji products.¹

Sources: ¹The Japan Times, ²Guardian and ³Слободен печат.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by ChemLinked. Kobayashi was warned about these side effects two months before recalling its deadly products. While the government's oversight was certainly less than satisfactory, the buck stops with the company distributing millions of these beni koji-filled products to the Japanese people.
• Narrative B, as provided by The Lancet. Government regulators deserve just as much blame for allowing dangerous products to hit the market. These supplements aren't regulated as medicine, and when customers report adverse effects, there are no required independent third-parties to investigate. Companies motivated by profit shouldn't be in charge of policing their product quality.