Authorities on Monday began an on-site inspection of a drugmaker based in Fukui Prefecture 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.
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.
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.