India has released samples of cough syrup manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceuticals for export after the World Health Organization (WHO) said the company’s products were linked to the deaths of dozens of children in the Gambia. the country’s health ministry said on Thursday.
The death of 66 children in the West African country has hit India’s image as the ‘pharmacy of the world’, supplying medicines to all continents, especially Africa.
The WHO on Wednesday said a laboratory analysis of four Maiden products (Promethazine Oral Solution, Cofex Marin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, Magrip N Cold Syrup) found possible toxicity and lead ‘unacceptable’. “Amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol have been identified for acute kidney injury.”
Indian girl, 10, allowed abortion after rape
Diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are used in industrial applications such as antifreeze and brake fluids, but also as a cheap substitute for some pharmaceuticals.
India’s Ministry of Health said that samples of the same batch of all four drugs manufactured by Maiden were sent to federal laboratories for testing and that the results “will guide future course of action and have/will be received from WHO.” Clarify the information,” he said. .”
He asked the WHO to share a report on “establishing a cause-of-death relationship with the drug in question.”
WHO did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Anil Viji, the health minister of Haryana, where Maiden’s factory is located, warned that “if anything is found to be wrong, strict action will be taken” after the inspection.
‘Maiden’ director Naresh Kumar Goyal told Reuters he had only heard of the death on Thursday morning and was trying to find out more details.
“It only happened today, so we’re trying to figure out what’s going on,” he said by phone. “We are trying to find out what exactly happened with the buyer. We don’t sell anything in India.” He declined to speak further.
India urges Pakistan to curb terrorist groups targeting India
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Wednesday that a UN agency was investigating deaths from acute kidney injury alongside India’s drug regulators and pharmaceutical companies.
After notifying the head of India’s Drug Enforcement Agency about the death late last month, the regulator, in collaboration with WHO, launched an investigation with state officials.
Maiden, which started operations in November 1990, manufactures syrup and exports it only to Gambia, India’s health ministry said. According to Maiden’s website, he has two manufacturing plants in Kundli and Panipat, near New Delhi in Haryana state, and recently launched another.
Indian terrorism and its impact on us
Maiden’s annual production capacity is 2.2 million syrups, 600 million capsules, 18 million injections, 300,000 ointment tubes and 1.2 billion tablets.
According to Maiden’s website, it sells its products domestically and exports to countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, but Goyal said it currently does not sell in India.
Importing countries typically test such products before allowing them to be used, the health ministry said.