WHO warns against use of Indian cough syrups in Uzbekistan

• WHO has issued warning against the use of 2 Indian children’s cough syrups.
• Uzbekistan claimed 18 kids had perished after ingesting syrup produced by a company.
• Marion Biotech-produced goods were “substandard”.

The World Health Organization has issued a warning against the use of two Indian children’s cough syrups after Uzbekistan deaths were connected to them.

The Marion Biotech-produced goods, according to WHO, were “substandard,” and the company had failed to make assurances regarding their safety.

The warning was issued a few weeks after Uzbekistan claimed that 18 kids had perished after ingesting a syrup produced by the company.

The business has not yet responded to the warning.

The production at the company was halted by India’s health ministry after the fatalities were made public in Uzbekistan.

The company’s production license was also halted this week by the food safety division of Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India that is home to Marion Biotech.

In the alert issued on Thursday, WHO said that an analysis of the two cough syrups – Ambronol and Dok-1 Max – by the quality control laboratories of Uzbekistan‘s health ministry found unacceptable amounts of two contaminants – “diethylene glycol and/or ethylene glycol”.

Diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are toxic to humans and could be fatal if consumed.

“Both of these products may have marketing authorizations in other countries in the region. They may also have been distributed, through informal markets, to other countries or regions,” the WHO said.

It added that “the substandard products” were “unsafe and their use, especially in children, may result in serious injury or death”.

India is known as the “world’s pharmacy” as it produces a third of the world’s medicines, meeting much of the medical needs of developing countries. The country is also home to some of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical companies.

However, since cough syrups produced by Indian corporations have been connected to child fatalities in other nations, the industry has come under heightened scrutiny.

The WHO had issued a similar warning in October, attributing 66 children’s deaths in The Gambia from kidney injury to four cough syrups produced by another Indian company.

The charges have been refuted by the Indian government as well as Maiden Pharmaceuticals.

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