WHO Says India-Made Cough Syrups May Be Linked To 66 Deaths In Gambia: Report
- The dozens of kids' death in Gambia due to kidney injuries may have links to contaminated cough and cold syrups made by an Indian drug manufacturer.
- In July, medical officers in Gambia raised the alarm after several cases of acute kidney injury among children under five were detected, three to five days after taking a locally-sold paracetamol syrup, Reuters reported.
- By August, 28 had died, but health authorities said the toll would likely rise. Now 66 are dead.
- The report cited World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying that the U.N. agency is investigating along with Indian regulators and the company Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
- The alert covers four products - Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup.
- The health agency also issued a medical product alert asking regulators to remove Maiden Pharma goods from the market, the report noted.
- The products may have been distributed elsewhere through informal markets but had so far only been identified in the Gambia, the WHO said in its alert.
- The WHO said that lab analysis confirmed "unacceptable" amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, which can be toxic when consumed.
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