Indian officials start probe into four home-made cough syrups flagged by WHO

New Delhi: The official responsible for the safety of drugs are investigating into four cough syrups manufactured by a Haryana-based pharmaceutical firm after these drugs were linked to the deaths of 66 children in the Gambia.

The World Health Organization (WHO), said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, alerted Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) about the cough syrups on September 29, according to NDTV.

Alongside warning about the" possible" global exposure of the syrups, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, while speaking to reporters, linked the four cold and cough syrups with acute kidney injuries and 66 deaths among children.

M/s Maiden Pharmaceutical Limited based in Haryana's Sonepat manufactured the syrups which the company had exported only to the Gambia, according to the report.

There have been no response so far from the company as regards these serious allegations.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation launched the probe taking up the matter with the Haryana regulatory authority.

The WHO warned about Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup.

"To date, the stated manufacturer has not provided guarantees to WHO on the safety and quality of these products," the alert reportedly said.

The laboratory analysis of samples of the products according to the alert "confirms that they contain unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol as contaminants."

The alert further warned that these substances can be fatal being toxic to humans. They could trigger "bdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, inability to pass urine, headache, altered mental state and acute kidney injury which may lead to death".

The WHO has not yet provided details on when these deaths took place.