Andrea De Cruz (left) with actor Pierre Png

Singapore, June 24 (AFP): Popular television actress Andrea De Cruz said here today that her liver failure — allegedly caused by taking the Chinese-made Slim 10 diet pills — meant she would never have children of her own.

“We (she is engaged to fellow actor Pierre Png) have shelved the idea to have children ... it won’t happen in this lifetime anyway,” a tearful De Cruz, 29, told the High Court.

De Cruz is on a lifelong diet of immuno-supressants and anti-rejection drugs after Png donated part of his liver to her last year.

Doctors have told her a pregnancy would pose extremely high risks.

Png and De Cruz have tentative plans to get married on October 18 this year.

De Cruz also claimed her weakened state had drastically altered her active lifestyle and compromised her career.

In addition, she had “exhausted” all her insurance coverages and would face the full cost of future medication and treatment.

“The bills have just mounted and I never imagined in my life that I would have to pay so much money,” she said.

In what is slated to be a three-week trial, De Cruz is suing five defendants, including Slim 10 pills distributor TV Media, importer Semon Liu and his company, Health Biz, as well as MediaCorp actor Rayson Tan, who allegedly sold her the products.

Her lawyers have alleged that the Slim 10 pills were not 100 per cent herbal as claimed, and in fact contained potentially fatal poisons, including fenfluramine.

The Slim 10 pills have been linked to the death of Singaporean woman Rajakrishnan Selvaraniee, and De Cruz raised her case in court in a bid to strengthen her own suit.

“It (her death) is a reflection of how my life could have turned out.... Before she died, she wanted justice to be served and I feel she is really watching over me,” De Cruz said to the packed gallery.

The MediaCorp actress was admitted to Mount Alvernia hospital on April 16 last year looking jaundiced and suffering abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea and fever, her attending doctor, Chia Siew Cheng, told the court yesterday.

“I trusted that the pills I bought were safe for my consumption. I never imagined that taking these pills could go so horribly wrong,” De Cruz stated in her affidavit.