Several cough syrups manufactured by an Indian pharmaceutical company have been linked with acute kidney injuries and the deaths of 66 children in Gambia.
In this regard, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an alert and warned that over four cough and cold syrups made by Maiden Pharmaceuticals in India have been linked with kidney damage and deaths of children.
The four medications include Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup, as stated in the WHO’s alert.
WHO also noted that global exposure to contaminated medicines is expected as they may have been delivered outside Gambia.
Furthermore, WHO’s Director General (DG), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described the incident as beyond heartbreaking for the children’s families and added that further investigation is underway in collaboration with the company and relevant Indian authorities.
According to details, Gambian authorities seized the mentioned medicines from rural areas in the West Coast and Upper River regions. Meanwhile, Gambian Health Ministry hinted at E.coli bacteria as a potential cause of acute kidney injury.
However, Health Ministry’s Investigation Lead, Abubacarr Jagne, concurred that the kidney damage was possibly caused by the paracetamol and promethazine syrups. On 23 September, health authorities issued a recall for any medications that included those substances.
Note that Gambia recently experienced severe floods that resulted in a number of kidney-related and diarrheal diseases with high fatality among children, which forced people to consume the medicines in question.
Also, Maiden Pharmaceuticals have not given any assurances to the WHO regarding their safety and quality. Additionally, laboratory analysis of the medicines discovered excessive amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol as contaminants.
In this context, the alert cautioned that the above-mentioned substances are highly detrimental to human health and may cause death in some instances.
It is pertinent to mention that Maiden Pharma declined to comment when contacted by Reuters while the Drugs Controller General (DCG) of India did not return calls or messages. Indian Health Ministry also did not respond to a request for comment.
WHO, India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) data showed that the company only exported those medicines to Gambia and warned that their informal or unregulated market supply to other regions in Africa cannot be disregarded.
Similarly, the same contaminants may have been added to other exported products which is why global exposure is possible.
