Gambian panel blames Sonepat-based Maiden Pharma for child deaths

New Delhi, December 20

Close on the heels of the Indian apex drug regulator informing the WHO that control samples from Sonepat-based Maiden Pharma were not found to contain any lethal contaminants previously “linked” to the death of children in Gambia, a parliamentary panel in the West African nation blamed the Indian firm for the fatalities.

The select committee of health said Maiden Pharma “should be held accountable for exporting the contaminated medicines linked to the death of at least 70 children”. “The actual cause of deaths is still under scientific investigation and engagement with two dozen stakeholders has generated fundamental inadequacies in our entire healthcare delivery system,” the committee said.

Importantly, the Drug Controller General of India had last week shared findings of government lab results of Maiden Pharma products with the WHO saying these were not found to be containing contaminants diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol, which the WHO had “potentially linked to Gambian child deaths” in an October 5 alert.

India said the WHO drew premature conclusions. The WHO alert had linked four of Maiden’s cold and cough syrups to child fatalities in Gambia. India has been asking the WHO for evidence on the alleged causal link.