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Marion Biotech – the Noida-based producer of a cough syrup blamed by Uzbekistan authorities for the loss of life of 19 kids – has halted production of all medicines, union well being minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted Friday morning.
He mentioned motion had been taken after a Central Medication Customary Management Organisation (CDSCO) inspection and that “all manufacturing actions… (of the corporate’s Noida unit) have been stopped yesterday evening”.
Hasan Harris, Marion Biotech’s authorized head, instructed information company ANI: “We await the reviews, the manufacturing facility was inspected. We have halted production of all medicines.”
READ | 18 Uzbekistan children’ deaths linked to Noida-made cough syrup, probe on
On Thursday Marion Biotech mentioned it had halted production of the Dok-1 Max syrup that Uzbek authorities have blamed for the kids’s loss of life within the second-such controversy surrounding India’s pharmaceutical exports; the primary concerned the export of a cough syrup to The Gambia.
READ | Uzbek cough syrup deaths: Marion Bio halts production of Dok-1 Max
Additionally yesterday, Mandaviya tweeted: “… samples of the cough syrup have been taken from the manufacturing premises and despatched to (the) Regional Medication Testing Laboratory (in) Chandigarh for testing…”.
“Additional motion will probably be taken as acceptable,” he mentioned.
Uzbekistan well being officers mentioned Wednesday that not less than 18 kids of their nation had died (the nineteenth died Thursday) after consuming the Dok-1 Max cough syrup that, in accordance to information company Reuters, contained a poisonous substance – ethylene glycol – and was administered in doses increased than prescribed. It’s unclear who authorised the excessive dosages, Reuters added.
The information company additionally mentioned seven workers of the Uzbek well being ministry had been sacked and ‘disciplinary measures’ initiated towards some specialists.
The Doc-1 Max treatment – each pill and syrup – have been withdrawn from all pharmacies, the Uzbekistan well being ministry mentioned.
Watch: Syrup killed Uzbek children? Govt stops production, orders probe
Gross sales of one other Marion Biotech anti-cold syrup – Ambronol – have additionally been suspended. Neither, media reviews point out, is out there on the market in India.
Referred to as the ‘pharmacy of the world’, India has doubled pharma exports over the past decade, touching $24.5 billion within the final fiscal yr.
The Uzbekistan case follows deaths of not less than 70 kids in The Gambia that have been linked to medicines made by New Delhi-based Maiden Prescribed drugs Ltd. Nonetheless, each the federal government and the corporate have denied wrongdoing.
READ | ‘Compliant with norms’: India to WHO on Gambia cough syrups row
The federal government mentioned samples of 4 suspected merchandise have been discovered to be compliant in checks carried out at a centre-run laboratory.
With enter from ANI, Reuters
