The chairman and president of a major Japanese dietary supplement maker yesterday announced that they were resigning, as the company probes dozens of deaths potentially linked to products meant to lower cholesterol.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co is at the center of a health scare linked to its over-the-counter tablets containing red yeast rice, which is fermented with a mold culture.
The company’s board yesterday released a damning external report that said the firm had failed to prioritize consumer safety and acted with an “insufficient sense of urgency.”
Photo: AFP
Red yeast rice or “beni koji” has been used in food, alcoholic drinks and folk medicine for centuries around East Asia.
Medical studies say it can improve cholesterol levels, but also warn of a risk of organ damage depending on the ingredient’s chemical makeup.
Akihiro Kobayashi and Kazumasa Kobayashi were leaving their posts as president and chairman respectively, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical said in a statement.
Both men belong to the firm’s founding family.
The company’s new president is Satoshi Yamane, previously head of sustainability policy, the company said.
Akihiro Kobayashi would remain in an executive role to manage compensation-related matters, it added.
The scandal erupted in March when the company, a household name in Japan, recalled three brands of dietary supplements after customers complained of kidney problems.
The company later said that it had detected a potentially toxic acid produced by the mold at one of its factories.
Last month, the company said it was probing a total of 80 deaths possibly connected to its pills, and investigating whether organs other than kidneys were harmed.
At the time the government called Kobayashi Pharmaceutical’s delay in reporting the number of cases under investigation “extremely regrettable.”
The report by a team of external lawyers released yesterday also criticized the firm’s handling of the matter.
It said that in mid-January and early February, the company began to receive reports of kidney problems from doctors.
“Kobayashi Pharmaceutical had never before received multiple reports of serious cases from doctors in such a short period of time,” the report said. “Despite this, the company did not immediately consider disclosure to consumers, acting with an insufficient sense of urgency.”
The company should have recalled the products right away and reported the incident, but it only did so after conducting internal probes, the lawyers said.
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