India suspends another drugmaker's licence over tainted cough syrup
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[July 25, 2023]
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has suspended a drugmaker's
manufacturing licence after the World Health Organization flagged
contamination in its cough syrups found in the Mashall Islands and
Micronesia in April, the government told the parliament on Tuesday.
Indian regulators are inspecting drugmakers after cough syrups made in
the country were linked to at least 89 child deaths in Gambia and
Uzbekistan last year, which has dented India's image as the "pharmacy of
the world" providing affordable drugs globally.
The WHO flagged contamination with unacceptable amounts of diethylene
glycol and ethylene glycol, which are toxic to humans when consumed and
can prove fatal, in samples taken from a batch of cough syrup made by QP
Pharmachem Ltd, based in the northern Punjab state. The company has
denied any wrongdoing.
"Drug samples drawn from the manufacturing premises ... were declared as
'not of standard quality'," Deputy Health Minister Bharati Pravin Pawar
told the parliament.
The manufacturing licences of QP Pharmachem Ltd and two other companies,
whose products were linked to the child deaths - Maiden Pharmaceuticals
and Marion Biotech Pvt. Ltd - have been suspended and their exports
halted, Pawar added.
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![](../images/072523PIX/health18.jpg)
Indian parliament building is reflected
in a puddle after the rain as a man sweeps the water in New Delhi,
India July 20, 2018. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jul/25/images/ads/current/debbiesfloral_lda_060123.png) Maiden Pharmaceuticals and Marion
Biotech have also denied any wrongdoing.
India has tightened its testing of cough syrup exports since June,
making it mandatory for companies to obtain a certificate of
analysis from a government laboratory before exporting products.
(Reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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