Mother sues food supplement supplier over daughter's death

Mother sues food supplement supplier over daughter's death

Aiya-ornin Adulwiboon, 48, the mother of a young Trang woman who died after taking an  extract of mucana pruriens, commonly known ma mui, that was sold as a food supplemnt, files a complaint with a Crime Suppression Division officer on Thursday night. (Photo by Wassayos Ngamkham)
Aiya-ornin Adulwiboon, 48, the mother of a young Trang woman who died after taking an extract of mucana pruriens, commonly known ma mui, that was sold as a food supplemnt, files a complaint with a Crime Suppression Division officer on Thursday night. (Photo by Wassayos Ngamkham)

The mother of a young Trang woman who died after taking an extract of mucana pruriens, commonly known as velvet bean or <i>ma mui</i>, is asking police to take action against the product's distributor and people who published pictures of her daughter's naked body taken at the hospital.

Aiya-ornin Adulwiboon, 48, lodged a complaint with Pol Lt Col Tharadol Hemmapat, deputy investigation superintendent at Crime Suppression Division’s sub-division 6 on Thursday night.

She asked that legal action be taken the distributor of a food supplement containing mucana pruriens for violating the Food Act and relevant offences.

Reports said the product in question was distributed by The Best International Co Ltd.

Sataporn Panthong, 21, died on June 11 after taking four capsules of  a “Reset’’ food supplement containing Indian mucuna pruriens seed extract. She suffered an allergic reaction and was admitted to Trang Hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly afterward. 

The death of the young woman drew public attention to the safety and dangers of food supplements.

Earlier, Mrs Aiya-ornin said she and her daughter had been encouraged to become members of a direct-sales business for Indian mucuna pruriens supplement products. She was told  the supplement would improve her daughter's health and strengthen the body. 

Mucuna bracteata

Mrs Aiya-ornin also asked the CSD to take action against those who published images of her naked dead daughter after the body was sent for post-mortem examination at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok. She believed it violated the Computer Crimes Act and submitted documents backing up her allegation to Pol Lt Col Thanadol.

The woman said the images were broadcast by several television channels and posted on social media. Although the pictures were blurred, she regarded the publishing of the images as unacceptable.

There was only a small group of people at the hospital and she had asked people not to distribute or use pictures of her daughter's naked body.

When the images were later broadcast by media outlets, she felt hurt and believed her daughter's rights were abused.

She insisted she never tried to prevent news coverage of her daughter’s death, as she wanted the case to be an example. But the publication of the images of her naked body taken at the hospital was  unacceptable.

Pol Lt Col Thanadol said he would forward the case to the Consumer Protection Police Division and the Technology Crime Suppression Division.

On June 21, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said extracts of mucuna pruriens were banned ingredients in dietary supplements.

The FDA deputy secretary-general Paisarn Dunkhum said mucuna pruriens seeds can still be used as traditional medicine to promote positive feelings and improve sex drive.

Mucuna pruriens had been used for centuries in Indian herbal medicine as a healing plant for many ailments. But it is illegal in some countries, including Thailand, to use it in a dietary supplement, he said.

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