The World Health Organization found contaminated cough syrup, manufactured in India, in the Western Pacific islands, it said in a statement Tuesday.
(Bloomberg) — The World Health Organization found contaminated cough syrup, manufactured in India, in the Western Pacific islands, it said in a statement Tuesday.
The WHO found tainted samples of a cough syrup called Guaifenesin syrup TG syrup in Marshall Islands and Micronesia made by Indian pharmaceutical firm, QP Pharmachem. The syrup contained “unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol as contaminants,” substances which are toxic to humans when consumed, it said. However, the report does not mention any individual falling sick.
Contaminated cough syrup, made in India, was implicated in child deaths in Uzbekistan, Gambia and Indonesia last year.
The manufacturer of the syrup, QP Pharmachem Ltd., based in Punjab and the marketer Trillium Pharma, based in India’s Haryana state, haven’t provided guarantees to WHO on the safety and quality of these products, the statement said.
The medicines are expired and were exported to Cambodia in 2020, Sudhir Pathak, managing director at QP Pharmachem, said in a text message.
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