Cough syrup probe

The World Health Organisation’s medical product alert for four ‘contaminated’ cough and cold syrups, manufactured by a Haryana-based pharmaceutical firm, has turned the spotlight on India’s drug regulatory system. The syrups have been ‘potentially linked’ to the deaths of 66 children in Gambia. According to the WHO, the products in question have so far been detected only in this west African nation, but there is a possibility that these may have been supplied to other countries. The global health body has, hence, asked various nations to ‘detect and remove these products from circulation to prevent further harm to patients.’

India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation has initiated an investigation in collaboration with Haryana’s drug control agency. It’s a cause for concern that the tentative results of the laboratory analysis of one of the cough syrups have confirmed ‘unacceptable’ amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, both toxic chemicals that can cause acute kidney injury, in four of the 23 samples tested. The matter needs to be thoroughly probed in a time-bound manner as it will have a bearing on India’s growing reputation as a global pharma hub. The large-scale manufacture and worldwide distribution of Covid-19 vaccines over the past year and a half have brought immense goodwill to New Delhi and demonstrated the capability as well as reliability of Indian pharmaceutical companies. It’s critical to take exemplary corrective measures to ensure that all the good work is not undone.

It should never be business as usual when substandard or spurious medicinal drugs put countless lives at risk. The tardy probe into the deaths of 12 infants in J&K’s Udhampur in December 2019 and January 2020, allegedly caused by the consumption of an adulterated cough syrup produced by a Himachal Pradesh-based manufacturer, has already laid bare systemic flaws. The drug regulatory authorities at the central and state levels need to get their act together and work in close coordination. Strict action should be taken against officials who condone or overlook lapses by pharma firms. Unsafe products must be weeded out before it’s too late. 

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