India's Marion Biotech Ordered To Halt Drug Production After Uzbekistan Deaths - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th December, 2022) The Indian authorities have ordered the pharmaceutical company Marion Biotech, whose cough syrup allegedly caused the death of 18 children in Uzbekistan, to halt all production, Indian media reported on Friday.

Indian Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday that experts of the country's Drugs Controller General had started examining Marion Biotech's cough syrup, while India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation and Uttar Pradesh Drugs Controlling and Licensing Authority conducted a joint inspection of the company's facility in the city of Noida, located in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

The inspection, which was completed at midnight, revealed a deviation from a Good Manufacturing Practice, a system for ensuring that products are consistently produced and controlled according to quality standards, at Marion Biotech's facility, the Indian NDTV broadcaster reported.

Following the results of the inspection, the Uttar Pradesh Drugs Controlling and Licensing Authority ordered a complete halting of production of all drugs at the facility, the report said.

The Uzbek Health Ministry on Tuesday confirmed the death of 18 out of 21 children who consumed the Marion Biotech-produced cough syrup, Doc-1 Max. Laboratory tests revealed the presence of a toxic substance, ethylene glycol, in a batch of syrups.

This is the second such case with India-manufactured cough syrups in 2022. In October, the Gambian government confirmed the death of 70 children from acute kidney failure. The country's authorities attributed these deaths to the administration of India-manufactured drugs containing toxic substances.