Indian maker of syrup linked to Uzbekistan deaths halts production, pending probe

Indian drug company Marion Biotech Pharma has halted the manufacturing of the cough syrup linked to the death of 16 children in Uzbekistan, the company's legal head Hasan Harris told news agency ANI.

"We regret deaths. The government is conducting an inquiry. We will take action as per the report. Samples were collected and the manufacturing of the product has been halted as of now. Other processes are underway," he said.

18 children reportedly died after consuming the cough syrup of Noida-based Marion Biotech. Reports from Uzbekistan said ethylene glycol was found in the samples during lab tests.

'No problem on our end'
Mario Biotech said it has been manufacturing this cough syrup for a long time and is also not a new company for Uzbekistan. "There is no problem from our end and no issue in testing. We have been there for the past ten years. Once the government report will come, we will look into it. For now, the manufacturing has stopped," Hasan said.

After the deaths were reported, the Drugs Controller General of India sought more information from the Uzbek regulator. An inspection jointly conducted by the central drugs regulatory team of north zone and state drugs regulatory team was also taken during which samples of the drugs were taken.

First Gambia, then Uzbekistan
A few months ago, the deaths of children in Gambia were linked to Indian cough syrup manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceuticals. Indian authority, however, gave a clean chit to the company after testing the samples and said the samples were found compliant with specifications.