Japan: Drug Maker Chief Resigns Over Deadly Diet Pills

The Facts

• The chairman and president of Japanese drug manufacturer Kobayashi Pharmaceutical have stepped down amid an invstigation into whether their dietary supplements potentially linked to hundreds of deaths.

• Company Chairman Kazumasa Kobayashi stepped down Tuesday as chairman and board member, but will stay at the firm as an advisor. His son, Akihiro Kobayashi, will step down as president but remain to help compensate the victims.

• The cholesterol-lowering diet pills are made from red yeast rice called beni koji, which has been proven to lower cholesterol but also connected to organ damage. Reports of kidney failure in those who took the supplement emerged in February and March.