5 dead and over 100 hospitalised from recalled Japanese health supplements

Tokyo: Five people who took a Japanese health supplement have died and more than 100 have been hospitalised as of Friday, a week after a pharmaceutical company issued a recall of the products.

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. 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.