Image for representation purpose only. , Photo Credit: Getty Images
Uzbekistan’s health ministry said on Tuesday that 18 children with acute respiratory illness have died after taking excessive doses of a cough syrup, Doc-1 Max, manufactured by an Indian firm Marion Biotech.
The children consumed “excessive amounts” of cough syrup, which contains ethylene glycol, a substance that should not be present in cough syrup. This comes days after a parliamentary panel Gambia finds “unacceptable levels” of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in cough syrup Manufactured by Haryana based Maiden Pharma. Here, cough syrup was linked to an instance of acute kidney injury, which is believed to be responsible for the deaths of at least 63 children.
India’s health ministry officials said they were “aware” of Uzbekistan’s report but declined to comment.
“So far, 18 out of 21 children with acute respiratory disease have died as a result of taking Doctor-1 Max syrup … It was found that the dead children took 2.5-5 ml of the drug at home for 2-7 days, 3-4 times a day, which is more than the standard dosage of the drug for children. All children were given the drug without a prescription. Since the main component of the drug is paracetamol, on the recommendation of pharmacy sellers, Doctor-1 Max syrup was erroneously used as an anti-cold remedy and this was the reason for the deterioration of the patients’ condition … Preliminary laboratory studies showed that this series of Doctor-1 Max syrups contains ethylene glycol. This substance is toxic and about 1-2 ml/kg of a 95% concentrated solution can cause serious changes in the health of the patient, such as vomiting, unconsciousness, convulsions, cardiac problems and acute renal failure.
“The tablets and syrup of the drug Doctor-1 Max have been withdrawn from sale in all pharmacies of the country in the prescribed manner,” a translation of the statement from the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan said.
Maiden Pharma’s export license has been suspended following a World Health Organization (WHO) warning on 5 October linking four syrups to deaths in The Gambia. However, India has said that WHO pulled a “premature link” Between child deaths and India-made cough syrup.