A batch of contaminated common cold syrup, manufactured by an Indian company, was reported by the World Health Organization on Monday, the latest in a series of warnings by the agency about the quality of medicines originating in the country.
A batch of Cold Out syrup that was found in Iraq and was manufactured by Fourts India Ltd. for Dabilife Pharma has been found with higher than acceptable levels of contaminants diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, says WHO.
According to an alert by WHO on the product, the amount of diethylene glycol was 0.25 per cent and ethylene glycol was 2.1 per cent whereas the acceptable safety limit for both is up to 0.10%.
The Agency further pointed out that neither the manufacturer nor the marketing company has provided WHO with safety and quality guarantees for this product, aid a report by Reuters.
The alert on Cold Out comes just after a warning was issued earlier this month about tainted cough syrups exported all over the world. Of the five syrups which are being investigated, more than half of them were manufactured in India.
The deaths of at least 89 children in Gambia and Uzbekistan last year were linked to the consumption of India-made cough syrups. According to the report, violations at Riemann Labs were found by Indian authorities which was linked to the deaths of several children in Cameroon.
Marion Biotech, which exported the syrups to Uzbekistan, had its manufacturing licence revoked by the Indian authorities, and several of its employees were arrested. Meanwhile, Maiden Pharmaceuticals which was involved in the cough syrup sent to Gambia denied that their drugs were responsible for the deaths and neither were any toxins found by the tests in an Indian government laboratory.
