New Delhi, January 12, 2023 (PPI-OT):The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a product alert against two cough syrups made by an Indian firm that are potentially linked to the death of 18 children in Uzbekistan. The alert said the two cough syrups contained diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG) in unacceptable levels. This development comes on the heels of another such incident in the Gambia in which four paediatric syrups were found to contain DEG and ethylene glycol, as per another product alert of the WHO.
The latest product alert is against two products – Ambronol cough syrup and Dox-1 Max syrup – both manufactured by Marion Biotech, a Noida-based pharmaceutical company. There has been no response from the company on the WHO alert. Its website has been taken down. The UN body health alert said the samples in question were tested by the ‘national quality control laboratories’ at the behest of Uzbekistan’s health authorities.
“To date, the stated manufacturer has not provided guarantees to WHO on the safety and quality of these products,” the alert said. The WHO has warned that the two products might have had market approvals in other countries or have been supplied through informal markets. “It is important to detect and remove these substandard products from circulation to prevent harm to patients,” the WHO alert said. It asked drug regulators across the world to increase surveillance of these products in their respective markets.
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