According to a government health official, manufacturing and laboratory practices violations have been discovered at a drugmaker lab in India. This has been connected to the deaths of children in Cameroon through its cough syrup. Following incidents where cough syrups manufactured in India were associated with the deaths of numerous children overseas, authorities have increased their scrutiny of drugmakers. The lab in India in question has not responded to requests for comment. This is the fourth Indian cough syrup manufacturer to halt production due to regulatory authorities identifying shortcomings.
The state’s drugs controller stated that regulators inspected the drugmaker’s production unit in Madhya Pradesh and issued a notice due to the identified practice gaps. However, the official did not provide specific details regarding the violations of good manufacturing and laboratory practices found during the inspection.
All the products manufactured by the company have undergone testing, and further actions will be determined based on the results, as stated by the state’s drugs controller. The government has informed parliament that the lab had been instructed to cease manufacturing after inspections conducted by federal and state regulators.
Authorities in Cameroon linked a specific batch of cough syrup to the deaths of at least six children, although some media reports mentioned that the number of fatalities reached twelve.
