Kobayashi Pharma Starts Accepting Compensation Requests

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co.’s supplement product Benikoji CholesteHelp

Osaka (Jiji Press)—Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. on Monday started accepting requests for compensation from people who suffered health damage from supplements containing its “beni koji” red fermented rice.

The company, based in the western Japan city of Osaka, will cover medical expenses and provide consolation money to users who can show a reasonable causal link with the intake of the supplements in question.

Specifically, the company will shoulder medical and transportation costs related to the treatment of symptoms caused by the supplements. It will pay compensation for mental distress, loss of income due to absence from work and income reduction.

The company will separately handle compensation for those who have died due to the intake of the supplements.

“We hope that the company will listen carefully and respond sincerely to those who have suffered health damage,” Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama told reporters.