Indonesia may seek prosecution of pharma firms as child AKI deaths rise

[October 24, 2022]  JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's food and drugs agency on Monday said it may pursue criminal action against two pharmaceutical firms that made products linked to acute kidney injury (AKI), amid a spike in cases and deaths among children this year.

Indonesian authorities have temporarily banned sales of some syrup-based medications and identified the presence in some products of ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol as possible factors in the deaths of 141 children, most of which were under five.

BPOM chief Penny K. Lukito said the agency would work with police to investigate the two firms with a view to criminal proceedings over the composition of their products. Penny did not identify the two companies.

"There are indications in their products ... (of concentrations) that are highly excessive, highly toxic, and suspected to cause the kidney injury," she said.

Indonesia is looking into its rise in AKI cases in consultation with paediatric experts and the World Health Organization (WHO), following a similar pattern in Gambia, which has seen at least 70 child AKI deaths related to syrup medications.

BPOM recently named three medications that contained high levels of ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol and ordered those be taken out of circulation.

(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Martin Petty)

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