Noida-based Marion Biotech produces the Dok-1 Max cough syrup. It is allegedly responsible for the deaths of 18 out of 21 children. Likewise, same were suffering from acute respiratory infections, according to the press service of the Uzbek health ministry. The ministry adds that ethylene glycol is present in Dok-1 Max after scientific tests.
The External Affairs Ministry stated on Thursday that the domestic pharmaceutical industry continues to be a dependable supplier of medications throughout the world. The Indian government is in contact with its counterparts in Uzbekistan. This is further regarding Indian cough syrup that resulted in the death of 18 children.
The Investigation:
Indian pharma regulators spent a significant amount of time on Thursday in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, at the company’s headquarters. On Thursday, a legal adviser to the firm that owns Marion Biotech gave TV broadcasters a statement. “The company had been exporting the medication for nearly ten years with no issues.”
Mansukh Mandaviya, the union’s minister of health, stated on Thursday that the CDSCO had been “in continuous touch with the Uzbekistani drug regulators over the situation since December 27.”
The Regional Drugs Testing Laboratory, Chandigarh, has also received samples of the syrup. A concoction of paracetamol and two other drugs—from Marion Biotech’s production facility via the CDSCO. The inspection report would serve as the basis for any further action that is necessary, according to the health ministry.
Two months after officials in the Gambia connected 66 infant fatalities to cough syrups from a different Indian company they said were tainted with ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol, the tip from Uzbekistan and subsequent CDSCO steps have come to light.
Both have been deemed hazardous by the World Health Organization and “should never be in any medicine.” Experts believe, the similarities between the Uzbek and Gambian incidents are likely to damage India’s reputation in the pharmacy community.
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