The samples of cough syrups reportedly connected to child fatalities in the Gambia have been sent for testing, according to the Union Health Ministry. However, the government emphasised that these syrups were not sold in India and were exclusively produced for export.
Four cough syrups made in Sonepat, Haryana, were the subject of a medical product alert from the World Health Organization, which claimed they may have caused 66 infant deaths in the Gambia and acute renal damage.
As a result, the CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organization) opened an investigation and demanded a thorough examination into the cough and cold syrups made and exported to the Gambia.
The WHO informed the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) that it was offering technical assistance and guidance to the Gambia, where children have died, according to a statement from the Health Ministry. The WHO hypothesised that the deaths were related to the usage of medications that might have been tainted with diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol, a deadly compound that has been linked to numerous episodes of mass poisoning.
The first inquiry has revealed that the four syrups in question — Promethazine Oral Solution BP, Kofexnalin Baby Cough Syrup, MaKoff Baby Cough Syrup, and MaGrip n Cold Syrup — were manufactured by M/s Maiden Pharmaceutical Limited, a company in Sonepat. The State Drug Controller granted the business a licence to manufacture these goods and export them only to The Gambia.
According to a statement from the government, CDSCO sent samples of the four syrups to Regional Drug Testing Lab, Chandigarh for testing. The results will help determine the next step.
Anil Vij, the health minister for Haryana, announced that the samples had also been transferred to the Central Drugs Laboratory in Kolkata for analysis. The minister added that these medications were only intended for export and were not offered for purchase or marketing in India.
The Health Ministry added that neither the precise “one-to-one causal relation of mortality” nor the specifics of the labels and products in question were shared with the CDSCO by the WHO.
One of Maiden’s directors, Naresh Kumar Goyal, told Reuters that the company didn’t learn of the deaths until Thursday morning. “We are investigating the problem because it just came up today. With the buyer and everything else, we’re attempting to determine just what happened. In India, we don’t sell anything “He stated as reported by news agency.
