NEW DELHI (AP) — The Indian government has shut down a pharmaceutical company that produced a cough syrup related to the deaths of at least 19 children in Uzbekistan, the country’s health minister announced on Friday.
According to Mansukh Mandaviya, “all manufacturing activities of Marion Biotech at Noida unit were stopped yesterday night, while further investigation is ongoing,” following an inspection by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the country’s drug regulatory body, in response to reports of contamination in cough syrup Dok-1 Max.
The country initiated an investigation this week after authorities in Uzbekistan claimed that numerous youngsters died as a result of the negative effects of a cough syrup manufactured by the Indian pharmaceutical business Marion Biotech. The company is based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh’s northernmost metropolis.
According to Ajay Kumar Jain, a top official with Uttar Pradesh’s Food Safety and Drug Administration Department, another check was done at the pharma firm on Thursday, and the team discovered some “deviations.”
“For the time being, all industrial activities have been halted,” he stated. “The samples have been sent for examination. Following receipt of the test results, further action will be taken.”
The Uzbek Health Ministry announced earlier this week that 18 youngsters with acute respiratory sickness died after ingesting DoK-1 Max syrup.
The letter also stated that Dok-1 Max tablets and syrups have been pulled off sale countrywide, advising parents to obtain medications only through a prescription.
According to Arindam Bagchi, a spokeswoman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, “Uzbek authorities have not formally brought up the subject with us.”
“However, our embassy has contacted the Uzbek side and is collecting additional information about their own investigation,” he said.
The new incidence follows a similar situation in Gambia in October, when the World Health Organization issued a medical alert for four tainted drugs discovered in the country, which were connected to acute renal damage and 66 child fatalities.
The drugs were cough and cold syrups manufactured in India by Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited.
However, the Health Ministry informed the Indian Parliament earlier this month that “control samples” of the medications from the manufacturing site were extracted and sent for testing and analysis.
“The samples have been certified to be of standard quality, according to the report of the government analyst,” the ministry said.
Source: Anadolu