WHO issues alert over ’contaminated’ Indian-made cough syrup sold in Iraq

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 08, 2023: The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday issued an alert over a batch of India-made common cold syrup sold in Iraq after it found the product "contaminated" and "unsafe" for consumption.

 

The syrup, branded Cold Out, was being sold in Iraq and manufactured by Fourrts (India) Laboratories for Dabilife Pharma. The global health agency discovered that the syrup had a higher than acceptable limit of contaminants -- diethylene and ethylene glycol, news agency Reuters reported.

In its medical product alert, the WHO said the batch of the syrup had 0.25 per cent of diethylene glycol and 2.1 per cent of ethylene glycol, when the acceptable safety limit for both of them is up to 0.10 per cent.

According to the WHO, the manufacturer and the marketer did not provide guarantees to the agency regarding the quality and safety of the product. The companies are yet to respond to the allegations and the WHO’s alert.

Till now, five "contaminated" syrups involving Indian manufacturers have come under scrutiny.

Last month, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), in coordination with State Drug Controllers of Madhya Pradesh, directed pharma firm Riemann Labs to halt manufacturing of its cough syrup that was linked to the deaths of children in Cameroon.

This came after the WHO issued an alert regarding cough syrup supplied in Cameroon stating an analysis had found that the product contained "unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol as contaminants".

Earlier, India-made cough syrups were allegedly linked to the deaths of 66 and 18 children in the Gambia and Uzbekistan, respectively, last year.

Despite the WHO’s linkage of cough syrup-related deaths to drugs made in India, the country’s pharmaceutical exports are set to reach USD 27 billion this fiscal year, growing almost twice as fast as in the previous year.

Pharmaceutical exports from India rose by 3.25 per cent in the last fiscal, reaching USD 25.4 billion, and are expected to grow by approximately 6.3 per cent in the ongoing fiscal year, reaching the USD 27 billion mark.

Courtesy: India Today