The World Health Organization (WHO) while conducting an investigation on contaminated cough syrups flagged 20 such toxic medicines originating from two countries — India and Indonesia. According to the global health agency, these spurious products are linked to nearly 300 worldwide deaths so far.
According to a report by Indian Express, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said these 20 products were manufactured by “15 different manufacturers” in the two countries.
The report also revealed that all the medicines are syrups — cough medicine, paracetamol or vitamins. Reportedly, these products also include the 15 previously identified contaminated syrups, seven of which were manufactured in India by Haryana-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals (4), Noida-based Marion Biotech (2), and Punjab-based QP Pharmachem (1). The rest were made in Indonesia.
Last year, the WHO had raised ‘medical product alerts’ on the 15 medicines in Gambia and Uzbekistan, where Indian-made syrups were linked to at least 88 deaths as well as in Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
The global health agency had also raised an alert in Indonesia where the domestically sold drugs were linked to the death of more than 200 children.
In June this year, the Nigerian drug controller issued an alert after it found a paracetamol syrup sold in Liberia was contaminated with diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol. Reportedly, the syrup was manufactured by a Mumbai-based company.
