5 dead and over 100 hospitalized from recalled Japanese health supplements

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5 dead and over 100 hospitalized from recalled Japanese health supplements

2024-03-29 19:45 Last Updated At：20:00

TOKYO (AP) — Five people who took a Japanese health supplement have died and more than 100 have been hospitalized as of Friday, a week after a pharmaceutical company issued a recall of the products, officials said.

Osaka-based Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. came under fire for not going public quickly with problems known internally as early as January. The first public announcement came March 22.

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Akihiro Kobayashi, president of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., arrives at a news conference in Osaka, western Japan, Friday, March 29, 2024. In the week since a line of Japanese health supplements began being recalled, several people have died and more than 100 people were hospitalized as of Friday. The Osaka-based pharmaceutical company came under fire for not going public quickly with problems known internally as early as January. The first public announcement came March 22. (Yohei Fukuyama/Kyodo News via AP)

TOKYO (AP) — Five people who took a Japanese health supplement have died and more than 100 have been hospitalized as of Friday, a week after a pharmaceutical company issued a recall of the products, officials said.

Akihiro Kobayashi, president of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., bows in apology at a news conference in Osaka, western Japan, Friday, March 29, 2024. In the week since a line of Japanese health supplements began being recalled, several people have died and more than 100 people were hospitalized as of Friday. The Osaka-based pharmaceutical company came under fire for not going public quickly with problems known internally as early as January. The first public announcement came March 22. (Kyodo News via AP)

Akihiro Kobayashi, president of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., arrives at a news conference in Osaka, western Japan, Friday, March 29, 2024. In the week since a line of Japanese health supplements began being recalled, several people have died and more than 100 people were hospitalized as of Friday. The Osaka-based pharmaceutical company came under fire for not going public quickly with problems known internally as early as January. The first public announcement came March 22. (Yohei Fukuyama/Kyodo News via AP)

Akihiro Kobayashi, President of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., left, bows during a press conference in Osaka, on March 22, 2024. Health supplement products believed to have caused a few deaths and sickened more than a hundred people have been ordered taken off store shelves in Japan. The products from Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, billed as helping lower cholesterol, contained an ingredient called “benikoji,” a red species of mold.(Chiaki Ueda/Kyodo News via AP)

A factory of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., is seen in Osaka, Japan on March 26, 2024. Health supplement products believed to have caused a few deaths and sickened more than a hundred people have been ordered taken off store shelves in Japan. The products from Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, billed as helping lower cholesterol, contained an ingredient called “benikoji,” a red species of mold.(Keiji Uesho/Kyodo News via AP)

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TOKYO (AP) — Five people who took a Japanese health supplement have died and more than 100 have been hospitalized as of Friday, a week after a pharmaceutical company issued a recall of the products, officials said.

Akihiro Kobayashi, president of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., bows in apology at a news conference in Osaka, western Japan, Friday, March 29, 2024. In the week since a line of Japanese health supplements began being recalled, several people have died and more than 100 people were hospitalized as of Friday. The Osaka-based pharmaceutical company came under fire for not going public quickly with problems known internally as early as January. The first public announcement came March 22. (Kyodo News via AP)

Akihiro Kobayashi, president of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., arrives at a news conference in Osaka, western Japan, Friday, March 29, 2024. In the week since a line of Japanese health supplements began being recalled, several people have died and more than 100 people were hospitalized as of Friday. The Osaka-based pharmaceutical company came under fire for not going public quickly with problems known internally as early as January. The first public announcement came March 22. (Yohei Fukuyama/Kyodo News via AP)

Akihiro Kobayashi, President of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., left, bows during a press conference in Osaka, on March 22, 2024. Health supplement products believed to have caused a few deaths and sickened more than a hundred people have been ordered taken off store shelves in Japan. The products from Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, billed as helping lower cholesterol, contained an ingredient called “benikoji,” a red species of mold.(Chiaki Ueda/Kyodo News via AP)

A factory of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., is seen in Osaka, Japan on March 26, 2024. Health supplement products believed to have caused a few deaths and sickened more than a hundred people have been ordered taken off store shelves in Japan. The products from Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, billed as helping lower cholesterol, contained an ingredient called “benikoji,” a red species of mold.(Keiji Uesho/Kyodo News via AP)

Earlier in the week, the number of deaths stood at two people. Company officials updated the number of dead to five Friday, and said 114 people were being treated in hospitals after taking products — including Benikoji Choleste Help meant to lower cholesterol — that contain an ingredient called benikoji, a red species of mold.

Some people developed kidney problems after taking the supplements, but the exact cause was still under investigation in cooperation with government laboratories, according to the manufacturer.

“We apologize deeply,” President Akihiro Kobayashi told reporters Friday, bowing for a long time to emphasize the apology alongside three other top company officials.

He expressed remorse to those who have died and have been sickened, and to their families. He also apologized for the troubles caused to the entire health food industry and the medical profession, adding that the company was working to prevent further damage and improve crisis management.

The company’s products have been recalled — as have dozens of other products that contain benikoji, including miso paste, crackers and a vinegar dressing. Japan's health ministry put up a list on its official site of all the recalled products, including some that use benikoji for food coloring.

The ministry warned the deaths could keep growing. The supplements could be bought at drug stores without a prescription from a doctor, and some may have been purchased or exported before the recall, including by tourists who may not be aware of the health risks.

Kobayashi Pharmaceutical had been selling benikoji products for years, with a million packages sold over the past three fiscal years, but a problem crept up with the supplements produced in 2023. Kobayashi Pharmaceutical said it produced 18.5 tons of benikoji last year.

Some analysts blame the recent deregulation initiatives, which simplified and sped up approval for health products to spur economic growth.

Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Cannes kicks off with a Palme d'Or for Meryl Streep and a post-'Barbie' fête of Greta Gerwig

2024-05-15 02:27 Last Updated At：02:33

CANNES, France (AP) — Beneath intermittent rainy skies, the Cannes Film Festival opened Tuesday with the presentation of an honorary Palme d'Or for Meryl Streep and the unveiling of Greta Gerwig’s jury, as the French Riviera spectacular kicked off a potentially volatile 77th edition.

A 10-day stream of stars began flowing down the Cannes' red carpet with the opening night film, “The Second Act,” a French comedy starring Lea Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Louis Garrel and Raphaël Quenard. They play squabbling actors filming a movie directed by an artificial intelligence.

The festival's first lengthy standing ovation, though, went to Streep, who was awarded an honorary Palme d'Or during Tuesday's opening ceremony. After Juliette Binoche introduced her, Streep alternatively shook her head, fanned herself and danced while the crowd thunderously cheered.

“I'm just so grateful that you haven't gotten sick of my face and you haven’t gotten off of the train,” said Streep, who soon thereafter declared Cannes officially open with Binoche.

“My mother, who is usually right about everything, said to me: ’Meryl, my darling, you’ll see. It all goes so fast. So fast,″ added Streep. “And it has, and it does. Except for my speech, which is too long.”

The reception was nearly as rapturous for Gerwig, the first American female filmmaker to serve as president of the Cannes jury that will decide the festival's top award, the Palme d'Or. Thierry Fremaux, Cannes' artistic director, on Monday praised her as “the ideal director” for Cannes, given her work across arthouse and studio film and her interest in cinema history. And, Fremaux said, “We very much liked ‘Barbie.’”

In the days to come, Cannes will premiere George Miller's “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga," Francis Ford Coppola's self-financed “Megalopolis” and anticipated new movies from Paolo Sorrentino, Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrea Arnold and Kevin Costner.

But much of the drama surrounding this year's Cannes has been off screen.

After French actor Judith Godrèche earlier this year accused two film directors of rape and sexual abuse when she was a teenager, the French film industry has been dealing with arguably its defining #MeToo moment. On Wednesday, Godrèche will premiere her short “Moi Aussi.”

Asked about #MeToo expanding in France, Gerwig told reporters in Cannes on Tuesday that it's progress.

“I think people in the community of movies telling us stories and trying to change things for the better is only good,” Gerwig said. “I have seen substantive change in the American film community, and I think it’s important that we continue to expand that conversation. So I think it’s only moving everything in the correct direction. Keep those lines of communication open.”

Gerwig is joined on the jury by Lily Gladstone, star of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” French actor Eva Green, Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona, French actor Omar Sy, Lebanese actor and director Nadine Labaki, Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, Turkish screenwriter Ebru Ceylan and Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino.

“I thought I just got over my imposter syndrome last year,” said the Oscar-nominated Gladstone. “But I'll start all over again.”

The jurors were asked how the many real-world concerns outside the festival might affect their deliberations. One film in competition, Ali Abbasi's “The Apprentice,” stars Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump. Labaki was questioned on the war in Gaza.

“I truly believe that one of the tools to really change something in the situation we all live in right now, which is a situation I think is not that great, is really through art and through cinema,” said Labaki. “It may propose a more tolerant way of seeing things and seeing each other as human beings.”

Filmmakers, Favino said, play the important role of reminding the world of where it can find beauty.

“This is why I decided that I could be here without feeling guilty as a human being," said Favino. “Because if we look for beauty, then we might look for peace.”

Other concerns are also swirling around this year's Cannes. Festival workers, fed up with short-term contracts that leave them unqualified for unemployment benefits in between festivals, have threatened to strike. During Tuesday's opening ceremony, two small bands of festival workers protested, including one group that unfurled a banner from the roof of the Palais.

On Monday, the Iranian filmmaker Mohammed Rasoulof, whose film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” is premiering next week in competition in Cannes, said he had fled Iran after being sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging. The film is said to be a critical depiction of the Iranian regime.

As Cannes continues, though, many will be focused on the stars parading the festival's famous red carpet. They'll include Emma Stone, Anya Taylor-Joy, Demi Moore, Selena Gomez, Nicolas Cage and Barry Keoghan. At the closing ceremony on May 25, George Lucas is to receive an honorary Palme d'Or.

Regardless, the 77th Cannes will have a lot to live up to. Last year's festival, widely celebrated for its robust lineup, produced three Oscar best picture nominees: “Anatomy of a Fall," “The Zone of Interest” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

A good Cannes will help France keep the global spotlight through the summer. The festival will be followed by the French Open, the Tour de France and the summer Olympics in Paris. On May 21, the Olympic flame will be carried up the steps to the festival's hub, the Palais des Festivals.

To help rekindle the spirit of last year's festival, Messi, the canine star of “Anatomy of a Fall,” was the first star to hit the red carpet Tuesday. The border collie, enlisted to film daily snippets for French TV, frolicked up and down the carpet while tuxedo-clad photographers hollered “Messi! Messi!”