India halts cough syrup production at factory linked to Gambia deaths

Production of cough syrup was ordered to stop after authorities inspected a Maiden Pharmaceuticals factory in Haryana state and found 12 violations

WHO said last week lab tests at Maiden found ‘unacceptable’ amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, which can be toxic

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Indian authorities halted production of cough syrup at a factory of Maiden Pharmaceuticals, after a WHO report that the medicine may be linked to the deaths of dozens of children in Gambia. Photo: AFP/File

Published: 4:45pm, 12 Oct 2022Updated: 6:11pm, 12 Oct 2022

Indian authorities have halted production of cough syrup at a factory of Maiden Pharmaceuticals, a state minister said on Wednesday, after a World Health Organization (WHO) report that the medicine may be linked to the deaths of dozens of children in Gambia.

The health minister in Haryana state, Anil Vij, told Asia News International (ANI) that authorities inspected a Maiden factory near the town of Sonipat in the state and found 12 violations of good practices. Production was ordered stopped, Vij said.

The WHO said last week that laboratory analysis of four Maiden products – Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup – had “unacceptable” amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, which can be toxic and lead to acute kidney injury.

Gambian police, in a preliminary investigation report on Tuesday, said that the deaths of 69 children from acute kidney injury was linked to the cough syrups made in India and imported via a US-based company.

It is one of the worst such incidents involving drugs from India, often dubbed a “pharmacy of the world”.

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