Ajit Karn
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Cough Syrup Deaths: After the death of children in Uzbekistan due to Cough Syrup of Noida’s Marian Biotech, serious questions are being raised on India’s pharma industry. Ethylene glycol or Diethylene glycol present in Merian Pharma’s DOK-1 syrup is believed to be the culprit behind the worsening of the condition of the children. According to the formula listed earlier on the company’s website, Dok1 Max syrup contains Paracetamol, Guaifenesin and Phenylephrine Hydrochloride as ingredients. Experts believe that to reduce the cost of making this type of cough syrup, it is usually mixed with Ethylene glycol or Diethylene glycol.
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But now the website of Merian Biotech is missing from the internet and the information about Dok1 Max syrup has also disappeared from the company’s website. Marion Biotech is actually a subsidiary company of Emnox Group – the page of this group has also disappeared from the website.
The drug controller of UP and the central organization CDSCO have started investigation on Noida’s Merian Pharma. Samples of the company’s syrup DOK 1 have been sent to Chandigarh’s lab for testing. Meanwhile, the government has ordered the company to stop production. Zee Media has also talked to WHO on this issue. WHO has said in its reply that it is in contact with the Government of Uzbekistan and is investigating the veracity of the allegations.
Ethylene glycol is a chemical – which is used in both industrial and medical industries. According to the website of America’s Center for Disease Control ie CDC, “Ethylene glycol (Ethylene glycol) is a liquid without color and odor which is sweet and prevents things from freezing. However, its excessive use can have a bad effect on the kidney and brain.
Deaths in Uzbekistan linked to deaths in Mumbai’s JJ Hospital in 1986
In January 1986, 14 patients aged between 10 and 76 years died due to Ethylene glycol in Mumbai’s JJ Hospital. At that time, apart from cough syrup, this compound was given to cataract patients in the form of glycerin. In a medical college in Nagpur this year, some patients died due to Ethylene glycol, after which the matter reached the court. Dr. S.S. Gambhir, who was studying at Gandhi Medical College, Nagpur at that time, told that a similar compound was found behind the investigation of the causes of death of the patients.
Such deaths have happened in 2020 as well
Even in 2020, 12 children died in Jammu and Kashmir due to cough syrup. The doctors of Chandigarh PGI had complained about a cough syrup COLDBEST to the Central Drug Authority CDSCO. 12 children of Udhamnagar in Jammu and Kashmir had died due to the use of this cough syrup. Diethylene glycol was also mixed in this cough syrup.
Gambia alleges death of children from India’s cough syrup in October
In the month of October, the African country Gambia had accused the cough syrup of Medan Pharma, a Haryana-based pharma company of India, in the death of 66 children in its country, although Gambia has not yet been able to prove this allegation. But in the initial report that came out from Gambia, Ethylene glycol was found in Medan Pharma’s cough syrup. In 1937, about 100 patients died in America after taking cough syrup containing Diethylene glycol.
WHO had issued an alert in October on the syrup made in India.
The World Health Organization (WHO) had issued an alert on 5 October regarding 4 cough-syrups of India. WHO had said that these products do not meet the standards. These syrups are Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofex Malin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup.
It was written in the WHO report that there is such a quantity of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in cough-syrup that it can be fatal for humans. Due to these compounds, 33 lives including children have been lost in India, but these compounds were not banned. In less than two months, India’s image of the world’s pharmacy has suffered after two countries accused India. In such a situation, it is necessary to reveal the truth and falsehood soon.
