Indian Cough Syrups

 

Gambia Asserts 'Role Of Indian Cough Syrups In Death Of 70 Kids Not Yet Confirmed'

Gambia's Medicinal Control Agency said that the role of Indian cough syrups in the death of 70 children due to kidney injury is yet to be confirmed.

Written By Harsh Vardhan

Image: Unsplash/Representative

 

Gambia is yet to confirm that the death of 70 children due to complications in their kidneys was caused by cough syrup imported from India. This announcement was made by Gambia's Medicines Control Agency, as per ANI. This comes roughly a month after the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued an alert on four cough and cold syrups that were manufactured by the Indian company Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited.

Gambia has not yet confirmed that toxic cough syrup was the cause of the deaths of 70 children from acute kidney injury, a representative of the country's Medicines Control Agency said on Monday: Reuters

We're not selling anything in domestic market. We've been obtaining raw materials from certified & reputed companies. CDSCO officials have taken samples & we are awaiting the results: Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd on deaths of 66 children in Gambia allegedly due to their cough syrup

 

In its response to WHO's alert, the Centre issued a statement saying that the medicinal syrups might have been "contaminated with Diethylene glycol or Ethylene glycol". But government sources later pointed out that the autopsy report of the deceased children showed that they were infected with Escherichia coli (E Coli). Since the bacteria caused diarrhoea in children, a government official questioned why were they given cough syrups. 

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The death of the children, however, prompted the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to launch a probe that reportedly uncovered serious negligence during the manufacturing facility's inspection. 

'We're diligently following the protocols': Company says in its defence

 

We're not selling anything in domestic market. We've been obtaining raw materials from certified & reputed companies. CDSCO officials have taken samples & we are awaiting the results: Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd on deaths of 66 children in Gambia allegedly due to their cough syrup

 

After the controversy surfaced, Maiden Pharmaceuticals said in its official statement that it has 'diligently followed the protocols of the Drugs Controller General (India)' during over three decades of being in the business. "We have valid drug approvals for the export of the products in question and we are not selling anything in the domestic market," the official statement read. The company further informed that "samples (of syrups) were drawn by the CDSCO along with all relevant documents in question in presence of our directors" during their visit to its factories between October 1 and 7. It further said that the final results of the inspection are awaited.

READ | WHO yet to provide 'one to one causal relation of deaths' in Gambia due Indian cough syrups: Sources

It is worth noting that the Gambia government, in collaboration with the Gambia Red Cross Society, launched an urgent door-to-door campaign to remove cough and cold syrups after reports of deaths surfaced in early October. Reports say that the cases of kidney injury in Gambian kids were first reported in late July and suspicions mounted over the administration of the cough syrups.