De Cruz v Guangzhou: Slim 10, Director Liability & Negligence

In De Cruz Andrea Heidi v Guangzhou Yuzhitang Health Products Co Ltd and Others, the High Court of Singapore heard a case regarding damages suffered by the plaintiff, Andrea De Cruz, as a result of consuming a slimming drug known as Slim 10, which led to her liver failure and a subsequent liver transplant. The plaintiff sued Guangzhou Yuzhitang Health Products Co Ltd, HealthBiz Pte Ltd, Semon Liu Kelun, TV Media Pte Ltd, and Rayson Tan Tai Ming, alleging negligence and breach of contract. The court found the second, third, and fourth defendants liable for negligence, holding that Slim 10 caused the liver failure. The claim against the fifth defendant was dismissed. The court awarded damages to the plaintiff.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court

1.2 Outcome

Plaintiff's claim against 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants allowed; Plaintiff's claim against 5th defendant dismissed.

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Andrea De Cruz sues for liver failure after taking Slim 10. The court finds the importer, distributor, and a director liable for negligence.

1.7 Decision Date

2 October 2003

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
De Cruz Andrea Heidi	Plaintiff	Individual	Judgment for Plaintiff	Won	Wendell Wong of Drew & Napier LLC Tan Siu-Lin of Drew & Napier LLC Raj Singam of Drew & Napier LLC
Guangzhou Yuzhitang Health Products Co Ltd	Defendant	Corporation	Judgment against Defendant	Lost
HealthBiz Pte Ltd	Defendant	Corporation	Judgment against Defendant	Lost	Simon Tan of Attorneys Inc. LLC Philip Lam of Attorneys Inc. LLC
Semon Liu Kelun	Defendant	Individual	Judgment against Defendant	Lost	Simon Tan of Attorneys Inc. LLC Philip Lam of Attorneys Inc. LLC
TV Media Pte Ltd	Defendant	Corporation	Judgment against Defendant	Lost	B Rao of B. Rao K.S. Rajah G Hardial Singh of B. Rao K.S. Rajah
Rayson Tan Tai Ming	Defendant	Individual	Claim Dismissed	Dismissed	Kelvin Poon of Rodyk & Davidson Lok Vi Ming of Rodyk & Davidson

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Tay Yong Kwang	Judge	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Wendell Wong	Drew & Napier LLC
Tan Siu-Lin	Drew & Napier LLC
Raj Singam	Drew & Napier LLC
Simon Tan	Attorneys Inc. LLC
Philip Lam	Attorneys Inc. LLC
B Rao	B. Rao K.S. Rajah
G Hardial Singh	B. Rao K.S. Rajah
Kelvin Poon	Rodyk & Davidson
Lok Vi Ming	Rodyk & Davidson

4. Facts

Plaintiff consumed Slim 10 slimming pills.
Plaintiff suffered liver failure and required a liver transplant.
Slim 10 contained undeclared substances including fenfluramine and N-nitrosofenfluramine.
Second defendant imported and distributed Slim 10.
Fourth defendant promoted and advertised Slim 10.
Fifth defendant sold Slim 10 pills to the plaintiff.
Plaintiff relied on the fourth defendant's advertisements when deciding to purchase Slim 10.

5. Formal Citations

De Cruz Andrea Heidi v Guangzhou Yuzhitang Health Products Co Ltd and Others, Suit 731/2002, [2003] SGHC 229

6. Timeline

Date	Event
1997-01-01	Plaintiff graduated with a degree in Clinical Psychology.
1998-01-01	Plaintiff returned to Singapore and worked as a Clinical Psychologist.
2001-01-01	Plaintiff was cast in the Chinese drama series ‘No Problem’.
2001-11-01	Plaintiff had an operation to remove a lump from her left breast.
2001-12-01	Plaintiff got to know the fifth defendant and his wife.
2001-12-01	Plaintiff saw the fourth defendant’s television commercials on Slim 10.
2001-12-01	Plaintiff commented to the fifth defendant about Slim 10 advertisements.
2002-01-01	Plaintiff started consuming Slim 10.
2002-02-12	Plaintiff sent a text message to the fifth defendant.
2002-02-15	Plaintiff sent another message to the fifth defendant about running out of pills.
2002-02-18	Fifth defendant handed the plaintiff the second batch of Slim 10 pills.
2002-03-29	Plaintiff travelled to Bangkok.
2002-04-11	Plaintiff returned to Singapore.
2002-04-14	Plaintiff's sister commented that the plaintiff’s eyes looked very yellow and jaundiced.
2002-04-15	Plaintiff saw a doctor and was told her liver was inflamed.
2002-04-16	Plaintiff arrived at Mount Alvernia Hospital.
2002-05-03	Dr Dede Selamat Sutedja of the National University Hospital (‘NUH’) liver team went to see the plaintiff.
2002-05-04	Plaintiff was moved to NUH.
2002-05-07	Plaintiff’s family decided to transfer her to Gleneagles Hospital.
2002-05-07	The transplant was performed.
2002-06-01	Rajakrishnan Selvaraniee (‘Ms Raja’) died from liver failure.
2003-03-01	Inquiry found that Ms Raja's death was caused by the consumption of Slim 10.
2003-10-03	Decision Date

7. Legal Issues

Negligence
- Outcome: The court held the second and fourth defendants liable for negligence.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Breach of duty of care
  - Causation
  - Damages
Director's Liability
- Outcome: The court held the third defendant personally liable in negligence as well.
- Category: Substantive
Breach of Contract
- Outcome: The court found that no contract was formed between the plaintiff and the fifth defendant.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Intention to create legal relations
Causation
- Outcome: The court was convinced on a balance of probabilities that Slim 10 did cause the liver failure in this case.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Damages

9. Cause of Actions

Negligence
Breach of Contract

10. Practice Areas

Personal Injury
Commercial Litigation

11. Industries

Healthcare
Pharmaceutical

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Gabriel Peter & Partners (suing as a firm) v Wee Chong Jin & Others	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1998] 1 SLR 374	Singapore	Cited regarding the liability of directors for a tort committed by the company if he directed or procured the commission thereof.
Rhesa Shipping Co. SA v Edmunds and another (‘the Popi M’)	House of Lords	Yes	[1985] 2 AER 712	England and Wales	Cited for the principle that it is always open to a trial judge to conclude after hearing all the evidence that the cause of a particular event remains in doubt, with the consequence that the plaintiff has failed to discharge the burden of proof.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Sale of Goods Act	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Slim 10
Liver failure
Negligence
Director's liability
Causation
Hepatotoxicity
N-nitrosofenfluramine
Fenfluramine
Herbal supplement
Advertisements
Duty of care
Batch testing

15.2 Keywords

Slimming pills
Liver transplant
Negligence
Director liability
Singapore
Andrea De Cruz
Guangzhou Yuzhitang
HealthBiz
Semon Liu
TV Media
Rayson Tan

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Negligence	90
Damages Assessment	85
Personal Injury	80
Breach of Duty of Care	75
Product Liability	70
Contract Law	70
Medical Products Liability	65
Pharmaceuticals Liability	60
Corporate Law	40

16. Subjects

Tort Law
Contract Law
Pharmaceuticals
Health Law
Product Liability