The World Health Organization on Monday termed a batch of Indian cough syrup in Iraq as substandard. The WHO says that diethylene and ethylene glycol in the batch exceed acceptable limits.
According to foreign media, the WHO on Monday termed cough syrup manufactured by Indian pharmaceutical company Fortes (India) Laboratories as substandard. The WHO said the product is Debiliu Pharma Pvt Ltd, India-manufactured. The batch of syrup contains Diethylene and Ethylene Glycol exceeding the standard. A sample of Cold Out syrup was received from Iraq, which was tested in the lab. Diethylene glycol (0.25 pc) and ethylene glycol (2.1 pc) were found in the sample, which is unacceptable. Both ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol have an acceptable limit of up to 0.10 per cent. The manufacturer-seller has not given a guarantee to WHO on the safety and quality of the product.
In September 2022, the WHO said that four products from Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited were also under investigation. At the same time, in December 2022, WHO issued an alert regarding two products of Biotech Pvt.
The WHO had said in September last year that four products of Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited manufactured in Haryana were also under scrutiny. At the same time, in December 2022, WHO had issued an alert regarding two products of Biotech Pvt to be made in UP. However, a cough syrup manufactured by QP Pharmachem Limited, manufactured in Punjab, was flagged by the WHO in April this year.
6,500 drug factories are working without certificates
Top health ministry officials had earlier this week revealed that out of 10,500 pharmaceutical factories in the country, 8,500 fall under the MSME category. Surprisingly, only two thousand of these factories have WHO’s Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certificate. 6,500 pharmaceutical factories do not have this certificate. It is very important to have this proof for better quality of medicines.
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