New Delhi: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has contradicted the findings and observations of the committee formed by the Indian government to probe the deaths of 70 children in the Gambia which were linked to syrups made by an Indian firm, Maiden Pharmaceuticals.
On January 24, the Economic Times reported that the four-member committee submitted the report to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). The report not only said that there was no proof of a link between the deaths and the four products in question, but also that the WHO provided lab test reports of only four products and not the 17 others which were tested and were under question. The WHO issued a warning against the use of the four Maiden products on October 5.
The four products, according to tests commissioned by the WHO, were found to be contaminated with toxins diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG). The committee comprises the vice chairperson of the Standing National Committee on Medicines Dr Y.K. Gupta (chair), the National Institute of Virology’s Pragya Yadav, the National Centre for Disease Control’s Arti Bahl and joint drugs controller of India, A.K. Pradhan.
Quoting anonymous sources, the Economic Times story claimed: “[Out of 23 samples tested], the reports of 17 samples or so were never disclosed. It’s difficult to pinpoint if the cough syrups resulted in the deaths.”
Replying to an email sent by The Wire on January 25, the WHO spokesperson said, “All results of the 23 samples tested were shared with the authorities in India. Only 4 of the samples were confirmed as contaminated. [Emphasis supplied]”
The Wire accessed the results of the laboratory tests that the WHO had commissioned, reporting on December 19, 2022, that the DEG contamination was found in very high amounts in the four samples of Maiden products: Promethazine Oral Solution BP (DEG: 19.02% v/v), Magrip N Cold Syrup(10.5%v/v), Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup (2.05% v/v) and Makoff Baby Cough Syrup (0.90%v/v). Contamination in some products was higher than in similar instances of mass DEG positioning that occurred in the past in Haiti, Panama and Nigeria.
The results of the WHO-commissioned lab analysis of all these four samples were supplied to Indian authorities. However, the Indian committee report does not mention them. Even a Gambian parliamentary committee alluded to these results, and in a scientifically detailed report, concluded that the four products were responsible for the deaths of children in that country.
The Wire reached out to a spokesperson of India’s health ministry on January 24 requesting a copy of the said committee’s report since it is not available in the public domain. The spokesperson said no information was available. The Wire also asked Pragya Yadav, a member of the committee, if she could confirm whether the committee had submitted the report. Yadav replied, “Please contact to DCGI [sic].”
The Wire contacted the DCGI but to no avail. However, neither the government officials that The Wire contacted nor the government otherwise denied the contents of the report published by the Economic Times till the time of publication.
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