The Uzbekistan government has alleged that 18 children have died in the central Asian nation following the consumption of a cough syrup produced by an Indian pharmaceutical firm Marion Biotech.
"To date, 18 out of 21 children with acute respiratory disease have died as a result of taking Doc-1 Max syrup manufactured by the Indian company Marion Biotech Pvt Ltd," the Uzbekistan Health Ministry said in a statement.
"It was found that the deceased children, before admission to hospital treatment, took this drug at home for 2-7 days 3-4 times a day, 2.5-5 ml, which exceeds the standard dose of the drug for children."
The Union Health Ministry sources didn't respond to DH's queries on the incident. Still, they maintained that a file was placed before Health Minister Manuskh Mandaviya, who also heads the Department of Pharmaceuticals as the Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers. Noida-based Marion Biotech also didn't respond to phone calls.
The press statement from the Uzbekistan Health Ministry identifies two factors behind the tragedy -- excess doses of the medicine in kids who don't require the drug and contamination of ethylene glycol -- one of the two toxic chemicals found in the Gambian case.....
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