JAPANESE DRUG FIRM SEARCHED OVER TAINTED MEDICINE

Japanese authorities began an on-site inspection of a drugmaker based in central Japan whose antifungal medication, found to be tainted with a sleep-inducing component, is suspected of causing the death of two people in November and earlier this month, Kyodo news agency reported.

The search of Kobayashi Kako Co., conducted by the health ministry together with the Fukui prefectural government and the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency, is aimed at determining whether the company's manufacturing and management standards are in violation of the law.

There have been 155 cases of adverse health effects linked to the drug, including impaired consciousness, with 34 people having been hospitalized as of Sunday, according to the company.

A woman in her 70s and a man in his 80s died after taking the tainted drug, though links between their deaths and the drug have yet to be confirmed.

Toru Tanaka, chief of the health ministry's Compliance and Narcotics Division, told reporters the same day that in addition to three types of the oral antifungal drug itraconazole sold under the brand name Meek recalled by the company, there have been reports of drugs manufactured using a process not approved by the government.

"This as an extremely serious incident," said Tanaka, indicating that the ministry is considering taking strict administrative action against the company, including imposing a business suspension order.

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