The diet supplement which may have killed a 16-year-old girl in Lampang last week carried a fake label, the Public Health Office in Lampang said today.
Preliminary findings into her death found the product had been falsely labelled as the GDM-brand's blossom jelly lychee flavoured supplement.
The manufacturer licensed to issue the product, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), had removed the supplement from the shelves long before the girl's death, according to Warinthep Chuesamran, deputy public health officer in Lampang. However, the girl ordered it online.
Dr Warinthep said the product which the girl, identified only as Rungthip, a Mathayom 4 (grade 10) student of a high school in Chae Hom district of Lampang, took was a falsely labelled supplement.
Doctors told the family Rungthip died from acute kidney failure and sepsis, or infected blood after consuming the supplement which she ordered online three months earlier. The product cost 500 baht per box.
Soon after taking the supplement, Rungthip complained of a sudden loss of appetite.
A month later, she developed swollen feet and was rushed to a local hospital where doctors found that she had developed the fatal symptoms. She was also diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease.
Rungthip died on Sept 3, three days after she was referred to the Lampang Hospital, the family said.
Dr Warinthep said today the provincial public health office has asked the FDA to supply it with more information about the brand.
The label on the product said it comprised herbal ingredients that are not harmful to health.
Dr Waringthep said it was too early to say if the product had killed the girl, although he noted some herbs may be fatal for people who suffer from allergies.
He said the provincial public health office had surveyed markets in Lampang and taken the fake product off the shelves.
Meanwhile, Thiravat Hemachudha, a professor at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Medicine, warned of potentially life-threatening danger from using of ergotamine, one of the ingredients in the product.
He said the substance can be deadly if it is used by people with cardiovascular conditions.
It can also have serious side effects if taken with antiretroviral drugs to control HIV/Aids. Ergotamine can also lead to paralysis or heart failure, he added.