Medicine factory in India resumes work after deadly cough syrup scandal in 2022
The Marion Biotech factory is among three Indian firms whose cough syrups the WHO linked to the deaths of 141 children
11 October 2023 - 11:30
byKrishna N Das
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Police are shown at the gate of an office of Marion Biotech, in Noida, India. File photo: ANUSHREE FADNAVIS/REUTERS
New Delhi — India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh has permitted the resumption of most production at a factory owned by Marion Biotech, which produced cough syrups Uzbekistan linked to the deaths of 65 children in 2022, an order seen by Reuters shows.
The firm is among three Indian companies whose cough syrups the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other agencies have linked to the deaths of 141 children in Uzbekistan, Gambia and Cameroon, in one of the world’s worst such waves of poisoning.
“There is no known case of a lack of quality in other medicines manufactured by the firm,” the drug controller of the state where Marion is based, and which cancelled the firm’s licence in March, said in the most recent order.
“The appeal of the manufacturing firm is partially accepted,” the official, Shashi Mohan Gupta, said in the Sept 14 order.
“Its permission to make products using propylene glycol (PG) is cancelled, and it is allowed to make and sell all other products.”
Gupta declined to comment on the letter.
On Wednesday, he said India’s controller general of drugs, Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, had written to Marion Biotech to initiate a plan of corrective and preventive actions by the company.
Raghuvanshi and the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Marion factory in Uttar Pradesh was closed in March, after an analysis in 2023 by Uzbekistan's health ministry of two cough syrups made by Marion, Ambronol and DOK-1 Max.
It showed they contained unacceptable amounts of toxins diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG), which are usually used in products not meant for human consumption.
Tests in January by an Indian government laboratory found 22 samples of Marion-made syrups were “adulterated and spurious,” the country’s drug controller said in March.
India’s pharmaceuticals department told parliament that tests had also shown that a sample of propylene glycol (PG), an ingredient of cough syrups taken from Marion's factory contained EG.
After the company appealed to the state government against the decision, it was allowed to resume output on August 11 of all products not containing PG, the September 14 order shows.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, two other sources with knowledge of the matter said the Marion factory remained closed for now, pending an inspection and a review of its paperwork.
It was reported that DEG and EG were used by unscrupulous actors as a substitute for propylene glycol because they were cheaper. In June, the WHO said its working theory was that in 2021, when prices of propylene glycol spiked, one or more suppliers mixed the cheaper toxic liquids with the legitimate chemical.
Uzbek state prosecutors told a court in Tashkent that distributors of the contaminated Marion syrups paid officials a bribe of $33,000 to skip mandatory testing there.
The central Asian nation has put on trial 21 people — 20 Uzbeks and one Indian — for the deaths.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Medicine factory in India resumes work after deadly cough syrup scandal in 2022
The Marion Biotech factory is among three Indian firms whose cough syrups the WHO linked to the deaths of 141 children
New Delhi — India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh has permitted the resumption of most production at a factory owned by Marion Biotech, which produced cough syrups Uzbekistan linked to the deaths of 65 children in 2022, an order seen by Reuters shows.
The firm is among three Indian companies whose cough syrups the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other agencies have linked to the deaths of 141 children in Uzbekistan, Gambia and Cameroon, in one of the world’s worst such waves of poisoning.
“There is no known case of a lack of quality in other medicines manufactured by the firm,” the drug controller of the state where Marion is based, and which cancelled the firm’s licence in March, said in the most recent order.
“The appeal of the manufacturing firm is partially accepted,” the official, Shashi Mohan Gupta, said in the Sept 14 order.
“Its permission to make products using propylene glycol (PG) is cancelled, and it is allowed to make and sell all other products.”
Gupta declined to comment on the letter.
On Wednesday, he said India’s controller general of drugs, Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, had written to Marion Biotech to initiate a plan of corrective and preventive actions by the company.
Raghuvanshi and the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Marion factory in Uttar Pradesh was closed in March, after an analysis in 2023 by Uzbekistan's health ministry of two cough syrups made by Marion, Ambronol and DOK-1 Max.
It showed they contained unacceptable amounts of toxins diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG), which are usually used in products not meant for human consumption.
Tests in January by an Indian government laboratory found 22 samples of Marion-made syrups were “adulterated and spurious,” the country’s drug controller said in March.
India’s pharmaceuticals department told parliament that tests had also shown that a sample of propylene glycol (PG), an ingredient of cough syrups taken from Marion's factory contained EG.
After the company appealed to the state government against the decision, it was allowed to resume output on August 11 of all products not containing PG, the September 14 order shows.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, two other sources with knowledge of the matter said the Marion factory remained closed for now, pending an inspection and a review of its paperwork.
It was reported that DEG and EG were used by unscrupulous actors as a substitute for propylene glycol because they were cheaper. In June, the WHO said its working theory was that in 2021, when prices of propylene glycol spiked, one or more suppliers mixed the cheaper toxic liquids with the legitimate chemical.
Uzbek state prosecutors told a court in Tashkent that distributors of the contaminated Marion syrups paid officials a bribe of $33,000 to skip mandatory testing there.
The central Asian nation has put on trial 21 people — 20 Uzbeks and one Indian — for the deaths.
Reuters
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