Slim 10 () was a popular dieting pill produced by Yuzhitang Health Products of

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. In 2002, the product gained notoriety for cases of

thyroid The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of tissue called the thyroid isthmus. The thy ...

problems, liver failure, and deaths in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

as a result of its consumption.'
Chinese diet pill casualties mount
"'',

Cable News Network CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

(''staff/wires''), 21 July 2002'
Asia's Killer Diet Pills
'', Lisa Takeuchi Cullen,

TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

, 5 August 2002'
Diet pill linked to further deaths
'',

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

, 19 July 2002 The product label claimed that the ingredients contained only natural extracts,'
Therapeutic Goods Administration News Issue 39
"'',

Therapeutic Goods Administration The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is the medicine and therapeutic regulatory agency of the Australian Government. As part of the Department of Health and Aged Care, the TGA regulates the quality, supply and advertising of medicines, pa ...

(

Government of Australia The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federalism, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster system, Westminster-sty ...

), November 2002 and was originally cleared for sale by authorities.'
Sad tale of death, suffering and ethics
"'', Seah Chiang Nee, Little Speck, 17 June 2002 It was tested and found to contain

fenfluramine Fenfluramine, sold under the brand name Fintepla, is a serotonergic medication used for the treatment of seizures associated with Dravet syndrome and Lennox–Gastaut syndrome.https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2022/212102s003lb ...

and

nicotinamide Niacinamide or Nicotinamide (NAM) is a form of vitamin B3 found in food and used as a dietary supplement and medication. As a supplement, it is used by mouth to prevent and treat pellagra (niacin deficiency). While nicotinic acid (niacin) may ...

that was banned by authorities in several Asian countries but had not been discovered in previous tests—the authorities then ordered the product to be pulled from their shelves and conducted criminal investigation.'
Deadly Diets - Asian Women Die After Taking Deadly Chinese Diet Pills
'', Kenji Hall,

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

for

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...

, 19 July 2002 Fenfluramine is a substance that was first outlawed in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

due to associations with severe health hazards.

Cases in Singapore

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, the high-profile liver failure of television personality

Andrea De Cruz Andrea Heidi De Cruz (; born 24 June 1974) is a Singaporean actress and psychologist. She left Mediacorp when her contract ended, but continues to work on an ad hoc basis. Career De Cruz was a psychologist before going into show business. Alth ...

sent shockwaves across the local television industry, leading to several lawsuits.'
Singapore presenter sues over diet pill
'',

, 26 June 2002 De Cruz eventually won S$900,000 (US$521,460) in damages against the importer and distributor.'
Singapore court awards actress S$900,000 in slimming pill case
,''

Kyodo News is a nonprofit cooperative news agency based in Minato, Tokyo. It was established in November 1945 and it distributes news to almost all newspapers, and radio and television networks in Japan. The newspapers using its news have about 50 millio ...

, 4 October 2003 De Cruz was saved after receiving an emergency transplant from then-boyfriend, actor

Pierre Png Pierre Png Tiang Huat (; born 29 October 1973), is a Singaporean actor. He is known for starring in multiple Singaporean MediaCorp's Channel 5 and Channel 8's dramas which include '' The Gentlemen'' and ''When Duty Calls''. Early in his ca ...

, who donated half of his liver.'
Singapore star in diet pill suit
'',

, 24 June 2003 One woman, Selvarani Raja, died after suffering from liver failure. Japan authorities reported half of its 64 reported illnesses related to liver or thyroid requiring hospitalization, and four deaths resulting from the consumption of the pil.'
Diet pill alert hits Japan
'',

, 12 July 2002 Consequences of the product's side-effects highlighted the issue of Asian women being under immense societal pressure to lose weight at any costs, and Asian countries reviews of regulations within the slimming and pharmaceuticals industries.'
Dying to be thin in Singapore
'', David Bottomley,

, 10 June 2002 In its aftermath, Singapore tested all its 45 slimming products for any potentially dangerous ingredients. The spotlight was also shone on Chinese health products, which were exported and sold cheaply and largely unregulated across Asia in pharmacies, beauty parlors and spas. The manufacturer defended itself by claiming that the products linked to the incidents were the result of

imitation Imitation (from Latin ''imitatio'', "a copying, imitation") is a behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's behavior. Imitation is also a form of that leads to the "development of traditions, and ultimately our culture. I ...

s. Its company's manufacturing license was eventually revoked by the Chinese government after Slim 10 was linked to one of its own citizen's death in Guangdong.'
China bans liver risk diet pill
'',

, 13 July 2002

References

{{Reflist

Cases in Singapore

References

Further reading