Real estate agent Heather Burgher bought Viralex Attack with added "high strength'' Andrographis paniculata, from an Oamaru pharmacy in February.
On March 28, she took two of the immune booster tablets and, within an hour was having a severe allergic reaction.
Her daughter took her to Oamaru Hospital, from where she was flown to Dunedin Hospital's intensive care unit.
Mrs Burgher said she thought she was going to die.
Her complaint centred on what she went through and what she called the inadequate labelling of health products, she said.
She is seeking all health products be labelled with details of the risks posed by any of the ingredients contained.
Earlier, a ministry spokesman said legislation was being planned which would deal comprehensively with the regulation of natural health care products in future, but at present there was limited regulation of these products in New Zealand.
Viralex Attack is made by Goodhealth Naturally New Zealand.
Goodhealth issued a recall of Viralex Attack with added "high strength'' Andrographis on April 8.
Goodhealth spokeswoman Julia van de Coolwijk said the company changed the formula of its product at the start of this year, after Australian watchdog the Therapeutic Goods Administration [TGA], issued a warning about Andrographis and its possible link to several allergic reactions in some people.
There is no requirement in Australia or New Zealand to discontinue products containing Andrographis.
Ms van de Coolwijk said the company was being proactive in how it responded to the TGA's warning and, while Mrs Burgher's case was unfortunate, it was not common.
The company had not been notified of any reactions to Viralex Attack of the severity that Mrs Burgher experienced.
"We believe we have done everything we can to ensure this earlier formulation product is no longer in the market. We would like to reiterate that the decision to remove this product from shelves was a precautionary measure only. There has been no definitive link established between Viralex Attack with Andrographis and [Mrs Burgher's] reaction.''
