Japanese company Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co, which produces dietary supplements based on red yeast rice (generally products against cholesterol), is evaluating the case of 76 people who died, possibly, following the use of the product, Kyodo News reports. In March, the Japanese pharmaceutical company had reported the deaths of five other people who had taken the supplement and subsequently withdrew it from the market. Kobayashi later revised the initial toll to four deaths, claiming that one of the victims had not taken the product. “We have received 1,656 requests from people who sought medical care and we have 76 cases under investigation for a (causal) connection to the deaths,” it said in a statement.
According to Japanese Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Keizo Takemi, the company failed to adequately report to the government. “This is extremely regrettable. The investigation of fatal cases cannot be left to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, and the ministry will handle it directly,” he said.
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