New Delhi: Maiden Pharmaceuticals, an Indian pharmaceutical company, was a repeat offender in India as well. Maiden Pharmaceuticals has drawn attention after 66 Gambian children died after ingesting Indian-made cough syrup. Four states in the nation discovered that certain pharmaceutical firm drugs did not meet quality criteria. The business was outlawed in Vietnam in 2011. Dinesh Thakur, a public health campaigner, said in an interview with NDTV that the company’s medications had also been identified for quality problems in India.
‘I found that the company’s quality control was appalling. In India, there is no regulatory framework. Every state has its own regulator, but we have a central one called the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO). We discovered throughout our inquiry that the Kerala and Gujarat regulators had deemed Maiden Phrama’s medications to be of subpar quality. A syrup was also on the blacklist of Bihar’s public procurement agency ‘. Mr. Thakur also questioned how the organisation received approval given its dismal track record.
‘Due to their subpar products, numerous businesses in Vietnam were blacklisted a few years ago, and this company was one of them. How was it granted authorization when it has a record like that? Only the central regulator is authorised to grant export authorization. The webpage for CDSCO bears that name. This business has taken down their website. Additionally, some legal matters involving the company’s directors have been discovered. All of this demonstrates the state of the nation’s drug delivery systems ,’ he added.
Red flags against Maiden Pharmaceutical
- Bihar (2008) : Erythromycin stearate 125 mg syrup (4 batches found to be of poor quality)
- Bihar (2011) : Methylergometrine tab (Fake)
- Vietnam: Company banned from 2011 to 2013
- Gujarat (2013) : Macipro Tab (dissolution issues)
- Jammu and Kashmir (2020) : Cyproheptadine Hydrochloride Syrup IP (substandard in quality)
- Kerala (2021) : Metformin 1000 Tab (dissolution issue)
- Kerala (2021) : Easiprin (did not meet IP standard)
- Kerala (2021): Metformin 500 mg (dissolution issue)
- Kerala (2021) : Maikal D Tab (Poor quality)
The tiny West African nation of Gambia has started a door-to-door effort to collect cough and cold medications that are thought to be the cause of the kidney injuries that have killed more than 60 children there. Following a statement from the World Health Organization that its products were responsible for the deaths of scores of children in the Gambia, India is analysing samples of cough syrups made by Maiden Pharmaceuticals.
The health minister of Haryana state, where Maiden has its factory, Anil Vij, informed reporters that samples had been sent to a central pharmaceutical laboratory for examination. If anything is proven to be incorrect, strict action will be taken. According to officials in the Indian ministry, Maiden, which began operations in November 1990, produced and shipped the syrup only to the Gambia.According to the WHO, a laboratory examination of Maiden cough syrup revealed ‘unacceptable’ levels of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, both of which are poisonous and can cause severe kidney impairment.
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