India prohibits use of propylene glycol from supplier linked to
Uzbekistan deaths
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[March 09, 2023]
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India directed drug manufacturers to stop
using propylene glycol sourced from the Delhi-based firm that supplied
the ingredient to Marion Biotech, whose cough syrups were linked to
deaths of 19 children in Uzbekistan, according to a government document
seen by Reuters.
Uzbekistan said in December that the children died after consuming
Marion's cough syrups, Ambronol and DOK-1 Max, which were contaminated
with unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol.
Soon after India suspended the pharmaceutical company's production.
Police this month arrested three Marion employees after tests in a
government laboratory found 22 of 36 syrup samples "adulterated and
spurious".
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) said in a letter, sent to
all state licensing authorities on Tuesday, that Delhi-based Maya
Chemtech was "mainly" the supplier of the propylene glycol used in the
affected batches.
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Logo of Marion Biotech, a healthcare and
pharmaceutical company is seen on a gate outside their office in
Noida, India, December 29, 2022. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
"Accordingly, you are requested to
instruct your enforcement officials to keep strict vigil on the
matter and take stringent action ... against the offenders in public
interest," the DCGI said in the letter.
The company did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for
comment.
The Uzbekistan incident came close on the heels of a similar one in
Gambia, where a parliamentary committee linked the deaths of at
least 70 children to cough and cold syrups manufactured by New
Delhi-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals.
(Reporting by Saurabh Sharma, Writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by
Sudipto Ganguly and Shounak Dasgupta)
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