The British government agreed Saturday to officially ban medicines containing the herbal supplement kava kava after months of research found it may cause liver failure. According to a spokesperson for the Committee on Safety of Medicines, a government advisory panel, researchers found during their inquiry of the supplement that 70 reports of adverse liver reactions were linked to kava kava, with four cases reportedly ending in death. The ban is scheduled to begin on January 13, 2003.

Kava kava has been a major concern in the medical community for months. In August, Australia issued a voluntary recall of the supplement and in March the U.S. Food and Drug Administration alerted consumers to the substance's link to serious liver damage.