The cough syrup that killed 66 children in the Gambia was not sold locally in India, as the Central Drug Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) has quickly assured the public.
However, the same company, Maiden Pharmaceuticals, has a history of producing subpar medications in this nation; the first instance dates back to 2011 when it was blacklisted in Bihar.
Additionally, CDSCO has not commented on the “unacceptable” levels of diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol that are said to have contributed to the deaths of children in the Gambia and Jammu in January 2020.
A cough medication produced by a separate business, M/s Digital Vision, included DEG, which killed children in Jammu.
Why the action was not taken properly?
According to the 1940 Medications and Cosmetics Act, the penalty for producing or selling fake drugs that might result in death is from 10 years to life in jail and a fine of Rs 10 lakh or three times the value of the substance that was seized.
No one from Digital Vision has received a penalty to date, and all of the accused have been released on bail.
The goods of Digital Vision were discovered to be “not of standard quality” seven times between 2014 and 2019, the same number as in the case of Maiden Pharmaceuticals.
Established in 1990, Maiden Pharmaceuticals has production facilities in Kundli, Panipat, and Solan in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, with its corporate headquarters in Pitampura, Delhi.
DEG fatalities are not new in India. In addition to the 12 kids that passed away in Jammu in 2020, 33 people died in Delhi in 1998, 14 people died in Mumbai in 1986, and 14 people perished in Chennai in 1973.
However, the CDSCO has claimed that “the WHO has not yet furnished the CDSCO with an accurate one-to-one causal link of mortality.” Some medications include DEG as a solvent, although the permitted quantity is quite low in India—just 0.1% to 2%.
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