Showa Denko K.K. Information
It's almost impossible for a person who contracted EMS from taking
L-Tryptophan manufactured by Showa Denko, K.K., of Japan to write anything that is
close to "objective" about the company. Even after 17 years have elapsed
(since 1989), I find that I can't say the name Showa Denko without
feelings that would be hard to explain to those who've never been sickened by a company's
product or something similar. The feeling can't be the same as hearing the diagnosis
of Multiple Sclerosis (just to use this as an example), devastating as that must
be to learn for anyone, because, how does one know who or what causes
MS? One might have clues or opinions, but no definite proof of the cause. So I would
guess one goes through a stage of anger against various things toward the path to
acceptance; perhaps one might feel anger toward God, loved ones, doctors, events
in one's life, unknowns, and other things or people. Hopefully, at some point, acceptance
arrives.
But, to people like me, who used LT made by Showa Denko K.K., it's
certain, and we are certain: We don't know precisely how Showa Denko (SDKK)
made us sick with their L-Tryptophan, but we know that this company was proved to
be the manufacturer in the overwhelming majority of cases of what I call LT/EMS.
Worse, we learned that the company's rush to sell increasing amounts of tryptophan,
especially in America, the main market, caused SDKK (whoever there made those
determinations) to make decisions to change their manufacturing processes around
1988 - changes that would lead to making LT faster, getting it to the shelves faster,
increasing profits, etc. Later, we learned about SDKK's cutbacks in purification
simultaneously with employing genetically-engineered bacteria without doing any
animal testing for safety or human testing, of course. They didn't inform
the FDA of their changed process of manufacturing LT. Acting alone, they did what
they did for their own reasons.
I've often wondered, Did anyone there imagine
what they were unleashing? Did anyone have any doubts? Did anyone caution others
not to go ahead with the changes? Why did SDKK destroy the samples of their
"brew" that were left so that study cannot be conducted? Did anyone there
ever feel true regret about doing that? Who gave the order? How do these souls live
with themselves? Did anyone ever feel shame, real shame?
As the old American
Indian proverb implies, a person needs to walk a mile in another's shoes to know
their suffering and them. Is there anyone at Showa Denko who'd like to come and walk
that vicarious mile in my shoes and feel what I feel everyday because I used their
product? ---- June 22, 2003
Links Related to Showa Denko, K.K., of Japan
Company History
: SHOWA DENKO K.K.
Tryptophan
produced by Showa Denko and epidemic eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome. (abstract)
L-Tryptophan
- Seeds of Deception (Wm. Crist's research on Showa Denko, GE'd tryptophan,
and Pre-Epidemic Cases)