A sleep-inducing drug was mixed with an athlete’s foot drug from a famous Japanese pharmaceutical company, and one patient who took it died and about a hundred suffered side effects.
On the 15th, Japanese media such as the Asahi Shimbun made a mistake in the manufacturing process with about 90,000 tablets of itraconazole 50 MEEK, an oral antifungal drug for nail athlete’s foot, manufactured by Kobayashi Chemical Co., Ltd. in Fukui Prefecture in June and July and sold during September-December. It reported that it was sold with a mixture of ingredients for sleep inducing agents. The ingredients of the sleep inducing agent mixed in the athlete’s foot medicine are about 5 mg per tablet, which is 2.5 times the maximum dose of the sleep inducing agent once.
As a result, there have been a series of side effects such as loss of consciousness among people who have taken athlete’s foot medicine in all parts of the country for the past three months. Even on the 10th, a woman in her 70s who took medicine died. Kobayashi Chemical said on the 11th that “one patient who took the drug died” and “we are investigating the causal relationship between taking the drug and death.”
The total number of patients complaining of damage, such as loss of consciousness or experiencing symptoms of memory loss, was counted as 146 until the 14th, and 33 were hospitalized. There were also 19 cases of accidents due to abnormal consciousness while driving while taking drugs.
Even though the company noticed the reaction of foreign substances in the pre-sale inspection, there was also a situation in which the sales were enforced. Asahi Shimbun said, “A suspicious reaction was caught when the company conducted a sample investigation of the content of the main ingredient before shipment in July, but the company reported that it was not a big problem and sold the drug as it is.”
Kobayashi Chemical Industries announced that it has temporarily suspended shipments of 289 products, including athlete’s foot medicine, which became a problem from the 14th. A spokesman for the company said, “We are checking the production records of the entire product and conducting an investigation.” In addition, to prevent further damage, the company contacted all 364 people who had records of prescription drugs and notified them to stop taking them.
Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Tamura Norihisa, said in connection with the incident on the 15th after a cabinet meeting, “we will closely investigate and deal with information with Fukui prefecture regarding the Kobayashi chemical industry issue.”
YTN PLUS Reporter Jeong Yoon-joo
([email protected])
[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
– .
