Guwahati: The World Health Organization (WHO) banned four cough and cold syrups made in India and stated that they may be responsible for the deaths of 66 children in the Gambia in addition to issuing a medical product alert. Acute renal failure was the cause of the children’ deaths.
Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makeoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup are the four cough and cold syrups that are prohibited. The Haryana-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited produces these.
According to the WHO’s advisory, laboratory testing of samples of each of the four items showed that they each included pollutants such as diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in prohibited concentrations.
The intergovernmental organisation warned that they might have also been spread through unofficial methods to other nations although these materials were solely transported to the Gambia.
Four of the 23 samples examined by the WHO were found to be tainted with diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol, according to sources cited in several media stories.
According to reports, the WHO has not given India any information regarding the death’s causative relationship. This indicates that it has not yet been shown that the “infected” cough syrups were to blame for the deaths of the 66 Gambian youngsters. The syrups did not cause any deaths, either, according to papers cited by Indian officials.
Diethylene glycol (DEG) is a typical solvent for medications and compounds that are not soluble in water medications and compounds that are not soluble in water. Cigarettes, antifreeze, lubricants, brake fluids, cosmetics, and wallpaper removers are all frequent places to find it. However, the WHO states that “inappropriate” doses of the chemical can be harmful.
According to the WHO, ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol are both fatally poisonous to humans when eaten. Abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhoea, inability to pass urine, headache, changed mental status, and severe renal injury—the leading cause of death—are all side effects of DEG.
According to a senior official at the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission who spoke to Times Now on the condition of anonymity, DEG could be present as an “impurity in the solvents that are generally used in making medicinal products.” However, it is “difficult to say which products have the impurity unless and until it is analysed,” the official said.
They continued by saying that India conducts thorough inspections of medications before they are allowed for sale. “Products should not have such pollutants if they are prepared according to standard,” they said.
The majority of pharmaceutical products use hundreds of solvents. However, according to scientific sources, DEG can exist as an impurity in glycerol and polyethylene glycols, which are frequently found in dental care products.