Health

India tightens drug export measures after cough syrup deaths

New Delhi, May 23 (EFE).- India will make it mandatory for exporters of cough syrups to analyze their samples in government laboratories before dispatch, authorities announced Tuesday.

The move comes in the wake of the deaths of children in several countries linked to medicine from India.

“The export of cough syrup shall be permitted to be exported subject to export samples being tested and production of certificate of analysis issued by any of the laboratories…, with effect from June 1, 2023,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.

India faced international scrutiny in recent months following alerts issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other regional authorities, after several adulterated cough syrups were linked to the deaths of 78 children in Uzbekistan and Gambia.

The controversy led the Indian authorities to stop the production of cough syrup linked to these deaths, and to withdraw the manufacturing license of one of the laboratories involved in March.

In addition to these cases, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has experienced other similar cases in recent months.

The WHO issued an alert a month ago about another cough syrup that was distributed on several Pacific islands after finding adulterated samples with large amounts of potentially toxic components.

In February, an ophthalmological solution produced in India and marketed in the United States generated a warning from the US health authorities, which linked it to a series of eye infections, permanent loss of vision and one death from bloodstream infection.

However, the inspection carried out by the Indian health workers ruled out that the ophthalmological solution was contaminated despite the warning of the American country.

However, the inspection carried out by the Indian health authorities ruled out that the ophthalmological solution was contaminated despite the US warning.

India is known as ‘the pharmacy of the world’ for its large-scale production of low-cost generic drugs and active components, as well as having the second largest number of FDA-approved production plants in the world, behind the US. EFE

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