The World Health Organisation has identified at least seven cough syrups made in India as dangerous as part of its probe into contaminated medications thought to be responsible for more than 300 fatalities, according to media reports.
Christian Lindmeier, the spokesperson for the global health body, said that 20 toxic products made by 15 manufacturers in India and Indonesia have been identified. The 20 medications include vitamins, paracetamol and cough syrups. Fifteen of these have been recognised as contaminated syrups, seven of which are produced by the companies QP Pharmachem in Punjab, Maiden Pharmaceuticals in Haryana, and Marion Biotech in Noida.
Last week, the WHO had said that it was conducting an investigation into a global threat caused due to toxic cough syrups. In October, when the WHO issued a global alert for four such medications made by Maiden Pharmaceuticals, deaths caused by poisonous cough syrups made headlines. Authorities in The Gambia connected the four medications to 66 deaths, the majority of which were caused by severe renal failure.
In December, the WHO recommended not using two cough syrups made by Indian pharmaceutical firm Marion Biotech after Uzbekistan’s health ministry said that 18 children died after consuming the Dok 1 Max syrup manufactured by the company. In April 2023, another Indian drugmaker was also found by the World Health Organization to have exported contaminated cough syrup to the Marshall Islands and Micronesia.
Commenting on allegations of deaths of children linked to India-made medicines, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told media that India has a zero-tolerance policy on spurious medicines. He said that following reports of deaths linked to India-made cough syrups, 71 companies were issued show-cause notices and 18 of them were shut down.