Gambia deaths drugs probe

NEW DELHI is “seriously investigating” the deaths of 69 children in Gambia in the wake of a report that provisionally linked the fatalities to Indian-made products, its foreign minister told his Gambian counterpart last Thursday (13).

Indian health authorities announced a production halt at domestic company Maiden Pharmaceuticals’s factory in Sonepat in northern India last Wednesday. It came after a WHO report said its cough and cold syrups might be linked to the deaths of 69 children in Gambia.

The matter “is being seriously investigated by appropriate authorities,” India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar said in a tweet.

The deaths, the worst involving drugs made in India, are a blow to an

industry whose exports more than doubled in the last decade to hit $24.5 billion (£21.9bn) in the fiscal year through March. Known as a “pharmacy of the world”, India supplies 45 per cent of all generic medicines to Africa.

The WHO issued a medical product alert last week asking regulators to remove Maiden goods from the market.

The UN health agency said laboratory analysis of four Maiden products found “unacceptable” amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in them, which can be toxic and cause acute kidney injury.

Indian authorities suspended the firm’s manufacturing activities after inspecting its main factory in Haryana state, finding rules were violated “across its manufacturing and testing activities”.