NEW DELHI (Reuters)Jan,12– India’s Medicines Authority on Monday investigated a facility producing cough syrup linked to the deaths of 19 children in Uzbekistan and announced further action based on the findings. He announced that he had promised to take
The legal representative of Marion Biotech, the Indian manufacturer of Dok-1 Max syrup, said the company regretted the death and stopped production.
The regulator is reviewing the company’s facility in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and is in regular contact with its Uzbek counterparts, India’s health ministry said in a statement.
“A sample of cough syrup was collected from the manufacturing facility and sent to the regional drug testing laboratory in Chandigarh for testing,” the ministry said.
At least 18 of her children have died in the city of Samarkand after consuming syrup made by an Indian pharmaceutical company, Uzbekistan’s health ministry said. On Thursday, Uzbekistan news site report.uz reported that a one-year-old child had died, citing information from the local public prosecutor’s office.
Officials in the Samarkand region did not initially report the deaths to the ministry, the news site said, citing Health Minister Bekzod Musayvand.
The report, which also quotes the minister, added that several people have since been arrested in connection with the registration, importation and sale of the drug.
A spokesman for India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the country’s pharmaceutical industry as a “reliable supplier to countries around the world” and said such incidents were “taken very seriously”.
Those affected by legal action by Uzbek authorities, including Marion Biotech’s local agent, will receive “necessary consular assistance”, Arindam Bagchi said at a press conference, but details I didn’t touch it.
Uzbekistan’s ministry previously said seven staff members had been dismissed after investigating the matter, and “disciplinary action” had been taken against some experts. Dok-1 Max tablets and syrup were also recalled from all pharmacies in Uzbekistan, the ministry added.
The Uzbekistan case follows the deaths of at least 70 children in The Gambia linked to cough and cold syrup manufactured by New Delhi-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals. However, both the Indian government and the company have denied wrongdoing.
India, known as ‘the world’s pharmacy’, has doubled its pharmaceutical exports over the past decade, reaching $24.5 billion last year.
Dok-1 Max syrup contains the toxic substance ethylene glycol and was either mistaken for cold medicine by parents or given to children in higher than standard doses on the advice of pharmacists in the Uzbekistan province. India’s fertilizer ministry on Thursday issued an order containing specifications to regulate the sale of ethylene glycol from the end of March.
