Japan's Kobayashi Pharma to end red yeast rice business amid health scandal

Japanese drugmaker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co said Thursday it will discontinue business related to red yeast rice, or beni-koji, following a scandal involving its dietary supplements that contained material suspected of causing deaths.

The company's board made the decision "considering the serious health hazard and inconvenience it has caused to society," the Osaka-based pharmaceutical giant said in a statement.

The company also said it will start accepting compensation claims from August 19 from people who have suffered health damage after taking its dietary supplements with red yeast rice.

As of Sunday, it had been notified of around 10,300 reports of health problems, with 467 cases involving hospitalization, while the number of deaths that need to be investigated in connection with the consumption of its supplements reached 107.

The company came under criticism for only making the health hazard public in March, two months after it became aware of its supplements' potential danger. The exact cause of the illness was still under investigation.