At least 69 children die in Gambia from contaminated cough syrup

Euskaraz irakurri: Gutxienez 69 haur hil dira Gambian eztularen aurkako syrup kutsatua hartzeagatik

At least 69 minors have died in The Gambia due to the damage caused to their kidneys for four possibly contaminated cough syrups manufactured by the Indian pharmaceutical company Maiden Pharmaceuticals, according to a new balance from the Gambian Minister of Health, Ahmadu Lamin Samaté, at a press conference collected by Bloomberg.

Gambian President Adama Barrow has ordered the suspension of the drugmaker’s license and directed his foreign minister to raise the matter with the Indian ambassador in Banjul, according to a presidential statement released on Saturday night.

“The laboratory analyzes of the samples of the four products confirm that they contain an unacceptable amount of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol. To date, these four products have been identified in The Gambia, but they could have been distributed informally to other countries or regions,” the WHO said in an official alert.

The four syrups are Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup. All batches of these products “must be considered unsafe” until they have been analyzed by the respective national authorities.

Various company drugs Maiden Pharmaceuticals they have been rejected by the Indian authorities and Vietnam directly vetoed all their products in 2011. The pharmaceutical company assures on its website that it sells products to other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.