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Aeon Sold Drugs Without Prescription in 17 Prefectures

Posted on: Monday, 19 June 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Jun. 17--CHIBA -- Major supermarket chain operator Aeon Co. said Friday that its pharmacies, including those operated by group companies, sold the tranquilizer Atarax P and four other drugs without prescription in 17 prefectures.

Aeon says it has received no health-related complaints so far.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is calling on the people who purchased the drugs to stop taking them while confirming the amount of drugs illegally sold so far.

The ministry confirmed that 35 pharmacies inside Jusco, Saty and MaxValu supermarkets have sold about 140 boxes of such drugs.

The Atarax P, whose active ingredient is hydroxyzine hydrochloride, is available only through prescription since the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law was revised in April last year.

The drugs were not removed from the shelf even after e-mail messages were sent to remove them, the ministry said.

The other four drugs comprise two antiparasitic agents, and urinary antiseptics and synthetic antibacterial drug.

The mishap came to light through an internal investigation conducted after one of Aeon's group companies, CFS Corp. based in Yokohama, found similar illegal drug sale in its chain outlet.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Kyodo News International, Tokyo

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