“NEED FOR A RESPONSE”
Health Minister Keizo Takemi said on Tuesday that the government had told Kobayashi Pharmaceutical to “promptly provide information” on the situation.
The health ministry has also “instructed local authorities nationwide to collect information on health damage”, he said, offering condolences to those affected.
Authorities will consult with the company, and a government meeting will be held this week “to discuss the status of the case and the need for a response”, Takemi added.
In Wednesday’s trading, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical’s share price dropped four per cent.
The previous day, the drugmaker had said that the first person reported dead had regularly purchased one of the recalled products over the course of nearly three years.
“We’re now aware of one instance where there is a potential causal link between a death and our product,” the company said in a statement.
“We are currently investigating the link, and what happened,” it added, offering “deepest apologies”.
Analysis has found a possibility that the products contained “ingredients we had not intended to include”, the company has said.
But its analysis did not find any citrinin produced by red yeast rice, which is toxic and can damage the kidneys.
Red yeast rice is “made by fermenting steamed rice with food fungus, and is often used to lower high cholesterol as an alternative to statin medication”, according to a 2019 paper in the British Medical Journal.
Concerns have been raised in the past over red yeast rice products that contain high levels of a compound called monacolin K, which has the same structure as medically approved cholesterol drugs.
“Red yeast rice products that contain significant amounts of monacolin K can have the same potential side effects as statin drugs, including muscle, kidney, and liver damage,” the United States National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says on its website.
Source: CNA
