In December 2022, officials in Uzbekistan claimed that 18 children had died after drinking cough syrup. The government of Uzbekistan has blamed an Indian pharmaceutical company for the death of the children.
There have been cases of children dying in Uzbekistan after allegedly drinking the syrup. At least 18 children have died in Samarkand after allegedly drinking Indian-made syrup, according to Uzbekistan’s health ministry.
poor condition of the child
In this case, the Indian pharmaceutical company has assured action against the culprits. This is not the first time that such allegations have been leveled against Indian syrup companies, earlier a similar incident had also come to the fore in Gambia.
medical pharma factory
According to the ministry, preliminary tests conducted in the laboratory have revealed that this range of Dok-1 Max syrup contains the toxic substance ethylene glycol. This toxin can cause serious changes in the patient’s health, such as vomiting, fainting, heart problems, and kidney failure. Tablets and syrup of the drug Dok-1 Max have been withdrawn from sale in all pharmacies of Uzbekistan in the prescribed manner.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi has given a statement in this matter. He said that we have seen the news of the death of 18 children. The Uzbekistan government is probing whether this case has any relation with cough syrup made in India.
Bagchi further said that a judicial inquiry has been initiated by Uzbekistan against the representatives of the company present there. Necessary judicial assistance is being provided by India. At the same time, the Ministry of Health of India is also looking into this matter and the Noida plant of the company is being investigated.
The Indian Embassy in Tashkent has also issued a statement regarding this matter.
The statement said that India values its partnership with Uzbekistan and cooperation in the fields of healthcare and medicinal drugs. The statement further said, the embassy expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the victims of this incident. The Embassy maintains contact with the Agency for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry. The agency has requested to share its investigation report with the Indian side so that necessary action can be taken in India as well.
Before the Uzbekistan case, an alert was issued in the African country Gambia in July. There children started falling ill with kidney problems. The news of the death of about 70 children came. A similar pattern emerged in these deaths as well. All the children who lost their lives were below five years of age.
WHO report
The DCGI, after probing the Gambia case, had recently clarified that the children who died three to five days after allegedly consuming ‘Made in India’ cough and cold syrup, did not consume the syrup. The Indian agency had also written a letter to WHO regarding this. The government had informed Parliament about the deaths of children in The Gambia allegedly from cough syrup made in India. The government had said that the cough syrup samples of Maiden Pharmaceuticals were found to be of standard quality.
Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Bhagwant Khuba told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply on December 13 that the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) had conducted a joint investigation of Maiden Pharmaceuticals in Sonipat in collaboration with the state drug controller.
The Gambia had banned Maiden Pharmaceutical’s products after the WHO report came out. The WHO had issued instructions to all countries to remove these drugs from the market. He himself had talked about keeping an eye on the supply chain of these countries and the related area. Following WHO’s warning, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization had issued orders for the investigation.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh taunted the Modi government in the matter of Gambia and Uzbekistan.
He tweeted about this matter, “The syrup made in India looks dangerous. First 70 children have died in Gambia and now 18 children have died in Uzbekistan. The Modi government should stop boasting that India is the pharmacy of the world. The government should take strict action.”
Made in India cough syrups seem to be deadly. First it was the deaths of 70 kids in Gambia & now it is that of 18 children in Uzbekistan. Modi Sarkar must stop boasting about India being a pharmacy to the world & take strictest action.
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) December 29, 2022
On this tweet of Jairam Ramesh, BJP said that Congress does not leave any chance to defame the country.
The death of children in Gambia had nothing to do with the consumption of cough syrup made in India. That has been clarified by the Gambian authorities and DCGI, both. But blinded in its hate for Modi, Congress continues to deride India and its entrepreneurial spirit. Shameful… https://t.co/BKVQw5qskI
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 29, 2022
BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya said, ‘India-made syrup has nothing to do with the death of children in Gambia. This has been clarified by both the Gambia Administration and the DCGI. But the Congress is blind in its hatred towards Modi. Making a mockery of India and its entrepreneurial spirit.”
