福井県の製薬会社=pharmaceutical company「小林化工」の爪水虫皮膚治療薬に睡眠導入剤の成分が混入。服用していた70代の女性が死亡しました。

A woman in her 70s died after taking an onychomycosis drug tainted with a sleep-inducing component. She died after ingesting the "Itraconazole tablet 50 'MEEK'" antifungal medication.

※onychomycosis爪真菌症 

onycho『爪』の連結形 + mycosis『真菌症』かびの寄生によっておこる病気の総称

※fungal= fungus 菌類、真菌類、ポリープ、皮膚病

※athlete’s foot=(足にできる)水虫、皮膚真菌症という表現

※sleep-inducing component →sleep-inducing substanceもあり。soporific(睡眠導入剤)

※induce=引き起こす、誘発する 

※ingest=(経口)摂取する

※taint=汚染される →contaminate

この問題の経口薬=oral drug in questionは、364名に処方され、134名から健康被害の報告が出ています。

The pills were prescribed for 364 patients at hospitals in Tokyo and 30 other prefectures. 

※prescribe=処方する、処方箋を書く

The company said 134 patients complained of detrimental health effects as of Dec. 11.

※detrimental=有害な、不利益なharmful

※副作用=a side effect/an adverse reaction

会社は女性の死と薬の因果関係を調査するといいます。

Kobayashi Kako said it will investigate the causal relationship between the death and the drug.

全く異なる容器に入っていたにもかかわらず、厚生労働省が認めていない継ぎ足しをする=replenish行為や、ダブルチェックの怠りが重なり、あり得ない混入事故=improbable mix-up/ inconceivable mix-upは起きました。

To prevent these sorts of mistakes, Kobayashi said it keeps its drug ingredients in clearly differentiated containers.

※differentiate=差異を認める、区別を生じさせる、区別を生じる

服用した人の例

A 30-year-old woman had a rash(発疹、吹き出物) on her face and took two tablets for the first time on the morning of Dec. 2, and about 30 minutes later something unusual happened. She was preparing to take her children aged 5 and 2 to a day care center when her feet began to wobble(よろめく), and she collapsed in the hallway. 

次に気がついた時には病院で寝ていたとのこと。

A 60-year-old man from Takayama who works in the construction industry took two tablets on Nov. 27 to treat his atopic eczema(アトピー性湿疹).

Immediately after that he lost consciousness while driving to a construction site, and crashed into a utility pole(電柱). His car then ran into an embankment(土手、盛り土).

12月21日には、厚生労働省などが、医薬品医療機器法に基づき、同社に立ち入り調査しました。

The firm was inspected on suspicion of violating the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act, after an antifungal treatment that had been inadvertently tainted with the sleep-inducing component.  

※inadvertently=うっかりと、不注意で