India has said that four cough syrups linked to child deaths in The Gambia were found to be complying with safety specifications when tested at home.
The four syrups, produced by India’s Maiden Pharmaceuticals, were cited by the WHO as having the potential to be responsible for at least 66 child fatalities in October.
But according to a letter from India’s pharmaceuticals authority, the WHO has not yet submitted any supporting documentation. It is pertinent to mention that Africa receives several generic medications from India.
The letter, dated December 13 and addressed to Rogerio Gaspar, director of regulation and prequalification at the WHO, was written by Dr. VG Somani, India’s general drug controller.
In response to a WHO alert, India had stated in October that it was looking into the cough syrups.
The Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup samples that the WHO claimed to have examined were found to have “unacceptable quantities of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol as contaminants.”
However, Dr. Somani claimed in his letter that the samples examined at a government lab “were found not to have been contaminated” with the substances. This week, the Regional Drug Testing Laboratory in Chandigarh’s government analyst “certified the cough syrup samples to be of standard quality,” according to Bhagwanth Khuba, the junior minister for chemicals and fertilisers. The test results are being further examined by a panel of Indian experts.
Dr Somani added that the panel had also requested “specific information” from the WHO on “further details essential to establish the causality” but had not received this yet. The letter did not specify what information the committee had asked for.