Marion cough syrup turned out to be with a toxin
2023.03.04 10:56
Marion cough syrup turned out to be with a toxin
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – A drug inspector stated on Saturday that tests revealed that many of Marion Biotech’s drug samples contained toxins, and as a result, India may issue an alert regarding cough syrup exported from the company. Marion Biotech products have been linked to deaths in Uzbekistan.
After tests in a government laboratory revealed that 22 of 36 syrup samples were “adulterated and spurious,” Indian police on Friday arrested three Marion employees and are looking for two directors.
The government has responded to claims that Maiden Pharmaceuticals, an Indian company that makes cough syrup, was responsible for the deaths of children in Gambia last year. New Delhi is still investigating the matter.
An inspector who was a part of the Marion investigation, Vaibhav Babbar, told Reuters that the samples had been altered with ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol, two toxins that the World Health Organization claims were present in the goods sold by the two companies in the two nations.
In Gambia, as many as 70 children have died, and in Uzbekistan, as many as 19.
In Gambia, Indonesia, and Uzbekistan, the WHO reported in January that acute kidney injury caused by contaminated medications resulted in the deaths of more than 300 children, the majority of whom were under the age of 5.
It also stated that Senegal, Cambodia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Senegal might be affected because they might be selling the medicines. In addition, it urged its 194 member states to take “immediate and coordinated action” to stop more deaths.
Babbar stated, “Because Marion’s drugs have gone to so many countries, I pray nothing else happens.” An alert might be issued by the health ministry. They could do it. An alert will be beneficial.”
He stated that he was unaware of whether an alert was being actively considered.
A spokesperson for the Indian health ministry did not immediately respond to inquiries for clarification. Reuters called Marion but she did not answer, and an email asking for her opinion did not get a response right away.
Even though there would be no legal repercussions, a government alert would urge consumers in all nations to remove the items from their shelves.
According to Babbar, the drugs had also been shipped to Cambodia and Kyrgyzstan.
After Uzbekistan reported in December that children had died after consuming the cough syrups manufactured by Marion, Babbar was a member of a team that conducted four inspections of the plant. Shortly thereafter, India halted production of Marion.
The WHO issued a medical product alert in January stating that the syrups, Ambronol and DOK-1 Max, were contaminated with unacceptable levels of diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol following analysis by the health ministry of Uzbekistan. According to the U.N. health watchdog, it is crucial to identify and eliminate these subpar products from circulation.
According to the analysis, either on the advice of pharmacists or by parents who mistakenly believed the syrups to be cold remedies, the dosages were higher than the recommended one for children.
After the World Health Organization reported that four of Maiden’s cough syrups may have caused the deaths of dozens of children in the Gambia, India suspended production at Maiden in October for violating manufacturing standards.
Lady has rejected that its medications were to blame for the passings in Gambia, and tests by an Indian government research center tracked down no poisons in them.
