Marion Biotech’s cough syrups cannot be used in Uzbekistan by children, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
As a result of the consumption of this cough syrup, several deaths occurred in Uzbekistan.
On Wednesday, the WHO issued an alert about the medical product manufactured by Marion Biotecare stating that “substandard medical products fail to meet quality standards.”
“In this WHO Medical Product Alert, two substandard (contaminated) products were identified in Uzbekistan and reported to WHO on 22 December 2022. A substandard medical product is one that does not meet quality standards or specifications and is therefore out of specification.
AMBRONOL syrup and DOK-1 Max syrup are the two products. Both products are manufactured by MARION BIOTECH PVT. LTD. (Uttar Pradesh, India). Cough syrup deaths condoled by Indian Embassy in Uzbekistan; situation closely monitored
As a result of laboratory analysis of samples of cough syrups conducted by national quality control laboratories of the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan, WHO concluded that both products contained unacceptable levels of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol.
In the WHO alert, it was noted that “both of these products may have marketing authorizations in other countries in the region. They may also have been distributed, through informal markets, to other countries or regions.” According to the UN health agency, these products are unsafe and may cause serious injury or death to children.
The Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration suspended Marion Biotech’s production license in response to the deaths of 18 children in Uzbekistan. In view of reports of contamination in cough syrup, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that all manufacturing activities of the Noida-based pharma company have been halted.
