India’s Maiden Pharmaceuticals culpable for cough syrup deaths: Gambia panel
A parliamentary panel in Gambia said on Tuesday that Maiden Pharmaceuticals, an Indian-based drug maker, was responsible for the deaths of at least 70 children from acute kidney injury (AKI) linked to the consumption of cough and cold syrups.
“All the cases of AKI are linked to the consumption of contaminated medical products…manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceuticals,” Amadou Camara, the panel’s chairperson, said in a statement on Parliament, a report by news agency Reuters said.
The panel, meanwhile, said in its report that the Gambian government should pursue legal action against Maiden Pharmaceuticals for exporting contaminated drugs. The panel demanded that the company should be blacklisted and its products should be banned in the Gambia’s markets.
“Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is culpable and should be held accountable for exporting the contaminated medicines that were linked to the death of at least 70 children in The Gambia 2022,” the report read, AFP reported on Tuesday.
The Gambian parliamentary panel also said that a scientific investigation is ongoing into the cause of deaths and the bereaved families should receive compensation.
In October, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an alert over four cough and cold syrups manufactured by the Indian drug maker. The WHO said that laboratory tests found unacceptable levels of potentially life-threatening contaminants. The United Nations health agency also highlighted that these products might have been distributed beyond Gambia.
And in November, health authorities in Gambia ordered the first recall of all medicines that had paracetamol or promethazine syrup. The company’s production plant in India has been shut down.
Maiden Pharmaceuticals has not issued any comment over the Gambian parliamentary panel’s report.
Naresh Kumar Goyal, the company’s director, has denied that deaths were caused by the cold and cough syrups. Last Friday, Goyal told Reuters that his company had done no wrong.
(With inputs from agencies)
