Staff Reports
Four cough syrups may be related to 66 child fatalities in The Gambia, the WHO said Wednesday.
The WHO notice lists Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup. WHO hasn't received a safety and quality assurance from Maiden Pharmaceuticals.
All four items "contain unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol as contaminants," WHO said. The goods have only been found in The Gambia, but they may have been sold in informal markets elsewhere.
A nationwide exercise is underway to recall the contaminated products. #Recall #Alert Medical Product Alert N°6/2022: Substandard (contaminated) paediatric medicines https://t.co/gRaZyc0UGS
— WHO Gambia (@WHOGAMBIA) October 5, 2022
The drug “potentially linked with acute kidney injuries and 66 deaths among children,” the BBC reported. The Gambian Government has banned all paracetamol-based syrups and instructed people to use pills instead after a rise in acute kidney injury among 5-year-olds, the source reported.
Over the last week, we admitted a child with this condition (acute kidney injury) … and she has unfortunately died. We were able to confirm that she had taken one of the drugs that is suspected to be causing this, prior to her arrival at our clinic. It had been bought at a pharmacy within The Gambia,” the nation’s Medical Research Council said in a statement reported by ABC News.
The WHO issued a "global exposure" alert despite India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organization finding that Maiden only provided tainted medication to The Gambia. The Daily Caller couldn't access Maiden Pharmaceuticals' website before publication.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on DAILY CALLER.
