Islamabad, July 29, 2023 (PPI-OT):A cold medication made in India and sold in Iraq is tainted with toxic chemicals, says a report by Bloomberg News. According to Kashmir Media Service, this is the latest in a series of alarming revelations about syrup medicines used by children around the world. Bloomberg reported that a bottle of the syrup Cold Out purchased at a pharmacy in Baghdad in March contained 2.1 per cent ethylene glycol, according to Valisure LLC, an independent US laboratory. That’s about 21 times the widely accepted limit. The compound is lethal to humans in small amounts and played a role in mass child deaths caused by Indian-made cough syrups in Gambia and Uzbekistan last year.

Bloomberg shared the test results with the World Health Organization as well as Iraqi and Indian officials on July 8. The WHO told the Bloomberg that it found Valisure’s test results to be “acceptable” and that it will issue an alert if the Iraqi government confirms the product was sold there. The Iraqi government has not announced public alert or recall yet.

Pertinently, it was the fifth time in a year that testing has found an Indian exporter’s drugs to contain excessive levels of ethylene glycol. In addition to the Gambia and Uzbekistan outbreaks, testing by government laboratories has identified other contaminated products in the Marshall Islands and Liberia, although there were no reported illnesses associated with those drugs. The Cold Out label indicates it was made by Fourrts (India) Private Limited., a Chennai-based manufacturer that exports medicines to more than 50 countries, including the UK, Germany and Canada.

The outbreak last year in Gambia killed more than 60 children, and the one in Uzbekistan killed about 20. The incidents raised fresh questions about the quality of drug exports from India, which is the largest generic drug maker and calls itself the “pharmacy of the world.” The WHO said this month that a cough syrup blamed for 12 child deaths in Cameroon this year contained unsafe levels of diethylene glycol, a similar toxic compound. In that case, the medicine packaging doesn’t name a maker but bears the manufacturing license number of an Indian company.

For more information, contact:

Kashmir Media Service

Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549

Fax: +92-51-4861736

Email: info@kmsnews.org

Website: www.kmsnews.org