Yomiuri, "Chinese diet aids kill 1, sicken 11"

Yomiuri, Japanese newspaper reported yesterday that among 12 Japanese, who took three diet aids made in China, one woman died of hepatitis or acute hepatic insufficiency and two others managed to survive through liver transplant and artificial dialysis.

The news is according to the findings by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and the medical school of Keio University, which noticed the fact that people, who took Chinese diet aids between Apr. 2001 and May 2002, have suffered from liver disorders.

An examination by the ministry detected substances, such as anorectic and thyrotropic hormone, which are allowed only when they are used to make medicine, in some of the Chinese health food diet aids.

Because the diet aids can be easily purchased on the Internet, the ministry plans to make the names of the brands public to warn consumers, the sources said.

In February, a 60-year-old woman in Tokyo bought the diet aid through an import agency, the newspaper said.

It reports that about one month after taking the substance, she complained of lassitude and nausea and was hospitalized at the Keio University Hospital after she was diagnosed as suffering from acute liver disorder. She died at the end of May.

The Chinese diet aid was in capsule form and labeled that it contained raw materials, including tea leaves and herbs.

The liver function of a 47-year-old woman in Chiba Prefecture deteriorated after she suffered from a liver disorder after taking a different type of Chinese diet aid, resulting in her undergoing a liver transplant operation using liver donated by her eldest daughter.

A 55-year-old man, who took the same Chinese health food supplement, found he was suffering from a liver disorder.

A 55-year-old woman in Tokyo showed symptoms of jaundice after taking another Chinese diet aid. She survived after undergoing a blood transfusion and artificial dialysis.

Keio University said that their livers were normal before they took the diet aid.

"Their symptoms surfaced about one month after they took the substances. Their liver disorders could be caused by allergy or poisoning," the university said.

The remaining eight women aged between 30 and 60 stopped taking the diet aids after their symptoms began and were able to recover.

ksshim@donga.com