A Japanese government panel is reviewing the system allowing food products to be labeled as having specific health benefits, in the wake of deaths and hospitalizations of users of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co.’s dietary supplements containing “beni koji” red yeast rice.
The average premium rate at corporate health insurance societies in Japan is projected to hit a record high of 9.32 pct in fiscal 2024, according to the National Federation of Health Insurance Societies, or Kenporen. Reflecting an increase in contributions to the medical care services for the elderly, the rate is expected to rise 0.05 percentage point from the previous year, which ended in March, the group of health insurance societies for employees of large corporations and their families said Tuesday.
The health ministry and the National Institute of Health Sciences said on the day that at least two compounds not normally found in the supplements were detected in an analysis of ingredient samples.
A Japanese district court Thursday ordered Resonac Holdings Corp. to pay 104 million yen in damages to people claiming to suffer from Niigata Minamata disease, a neurological disorder caused by mercury poisoning.
The judge rejected the claim against the government while ordering Resonac to pay 4 million yen to each of the 26 plaintiffs identified as disease victims. His ruling was read out by another judge Yusuke Suzuki.
About 40 pct of Japanese medical institutions accepting hospitalizations of children ask family members to stay around the clock with them in certain circumstances, a government survey showed Friday 12th April.
Following the initial concerns with ‘beni koji’ supplements, problems linked to 18 food items with functional claims have been reported in Japan other than those allegedly caused by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. supplements.
Health problems linked to 18 food items with functional claims have been reported in Japan other than those allegedly caused by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. supplements, the government said Friday.
Health issues among three of the deceased also included hypertension, hyperlipidemia and rheumatism, while the medical history of the remaining two are unknown, the ministry said at a joint press conference with the Japanese Society of Nephrology.
As spring and the next fiscal year arrives, some changes and new policies that may affect the elderly and people with disabilities in Japan will be rolled out. Public subsidies related to the coronavirus will change, limits on overtime for doctors will be imposed and backed by penalties. Fees paid to nursing care providers will go up 1.59% overall and the revised Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities will come into effect.
Japanese drugmaker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical says water accidentally leaked into a tank making “beni-koji” red yeast rice supplement and other products’ ingredients at its factory. But the company says it remains unknown whether the leak has anything to do with the kidney and other health problems among those who took supplements and other products with “beni-koji” ingredients.
There were 7,637,967 ambulance dispatches in Japan in 2023, the highest figure since comparable data became available in 1963, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said in a preliminary report. From the previous year, ambulance dispatches increased 5.6 pct. The agency also said a record 6,639,959 people, up 6.8 pct, were transported by ambulance.
Barrier Free Japan