Two doctors believe herbal pills may have caused illness
TWO doctors who treated Madam Chua Hwee Sian believe a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) she took might have caused her liver to fail, but the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has not found any conclusive evidence to make such a link.
Transplant surgeon Jeyaraj Prema Raj and liver specialist Lui Hock Foong have ruled out other possibilities and are convinced that Madam Chua's sudden liver failure in April this year is drug-induced.
Dr Lui explained: 'The tempo of disease was such that it fits in with severe drug-induced liver failure. The liver biopsy also showed a pattern consistent with drug-induced liver failure.'
She had tested negative for viral infection, auto-immune diseases and hereditary problems, he added.
Madam Chua, 43, said she does not take Western health supplements, and had not taken any other medicine aside from the TCM pills.
These were made up fresh by the TCM doctor she has been seeing for more than six years. The contents of the pills change periodically, to meet her health needs.
The two doctors reported their suspicion to the HSA which tested the TCM pills, but found no adulteration with Western medicine.
An HSA spokesman said it is more difficult to test herbal products for toxic elements compared to Western medicine, given the 'limited technology for testing of the constituents of the herbal ingredients'.
Linking liver failure to a herbal product is never straightforward, and in this case, there is 'no conclusive evidence' that the TCM pills were responsible, she added.
In 2002, two women suffered from acute liver failure from consuming a TCM slimming pill called Slim 10. One received a transplant from her then boyfriend, and now husband, and lived. The other woman was not so fortunate and died within days of the diagnosis.
The HSA spokesman noted that there is 'limited literature currently available on herbal products and its associated toxicities'. Adverse reactions could also result from 'herb-drug interactions, or overdoses'.
She added that 'HSA will monitor this range of products' in case any other patients fall ill.
