The Indian government started to investigate 4 cough syrup brands after 66 child deaths were reported by WHO.
Four cough syrup brands are under scrutiny by the Indian government after the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that these companies can be linked with the 66 child deaths in the Gambia. The 4 cough syrup brands or manufacturers are based in Haryana.
On September 29th DCGI (Drug Control General of India was alerted by the top officials of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. As per the sources, the Haryana regulatory authority along with the Central Drug Standard Control Organization has launched a detailed investigation regarding this matter.
The cough syrups are manufactured under M/S Maiden Pharmaceutical Limited which is based in Haryana, Sonipat. According to the information received, it said that this company exports their product in the Gambia only. The company has not yet put any statement against their allegations and this morning their administrative office in Delhi’s Pitampura was closed.
As per WHO the cough syrups manufactured by the company are widely distributed in the western part of Africa and there is a high chance of global exposure.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chief of the WHO said to the reporters that four cold and cough syrups have been linked with severe kidney injuries and the deaths of 66 children.
Name of those Cough Syrups:
The officials of the ministry have said that there has been no one-to-one casual relation death reported by the WHO they also said that there have been no details and photos of the manufacturer label which will confirm that it is their product by WHO and even they also did not share any detail of when the death took place.
According to sources the samples of the four cough syrups will be tested in the central and regional laboratories and the result will be given within one to two days they even stated that as per protocol when a drug is exported from India is tested by the recipient country so why was the contamination was not tested in the Gambia.
They even added that the WHO has still not informed whether the drugs were used without testing in the west African country.
As the alert put by WHO these four products are Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup.
