By Omar Bah
According to a report in the Economic Times that cites government data, one hundred or more pharmaceutical companies in India have failed quality tests for cough syrup. It was found that these cough syrups contained the same toxins found in a medicine linked to the deaths of over 141 children in Gambia, Cameroon, and Uzbekistan.
Reports had previously suggested that Indian cough syrups consumed by children in Gambia were contaminated with Diethylene Glycol (DEG) or Ethylene Glycol (EG), leading to a cluster of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) among them.
In response to the deaths linked to Indian cough syrups, the Indian government directed pharmaceutical companies to adhere to new manufacturing standards, following increased scrutiny by the Modi government to improve the reputation of the $50 billion industry. The government stated that the manufacturer must take responsibility for the quality of pharmaceutical products to ensure they are suitable for their intended use, comply with licensing requirements, and not put patients at risk due to inadequate safety, quality, or efficacy.
Companies can only market a finished product after obtaining “satisfactory results” from testing the ingredients. Additionally, they must retain enough samples from intermediate and final products for repeated testing or batch verification.
Mint reported that India’s drug regulator is progressively overhauling the approval process for pharmaceutical exports in response to global concerns about the quality and safety of medicines exported. According to two well-informed officials, the latest initiative includes improving India’s Certificate of the Pharmaceutical Product (CoPP) to align with the World Health Organization’s certification for good manufacturing practices.
India’s pharmaceutical industry, worth approximately $50 billion, is the third largest globally by volume. It is the leading supplier of generic drugs worldwide, meeting more than half of the global vaccine demand. Additionally, India fulfills approximately 40% of the generic drug demand in the US and provides a quarter of all medicines in the UK.
Over 100 Indian pharmaceutical companies failed quality tests for cough syrups found to contain toxins linked to the deaths of children in Gambia, Cameroon, and Uzbekistan, prompting stricter regulations for the industry.
Tags: India, pharmaceutical companies, cough syrup, toxins, children deaths, Gambia, Cameroon, Uzbekistan, quality control, drug regulation, WHO, global drug supply.
