The three employees of an Indian cough syrup manufacturer are being investigated for the alleged production and sale of adulterated drugs.
Three employees of an Indian cough syrup manufacturer have been arrested after the deaths of children in Uzbekistan. Indian news agency PTI reported on Friday, citing police, that it is being investigated for alleged production and sale of adulterated drugs.
In addition, two other senior officials are expected to be arrested. “By their actions, these people are endangering human life and human health,” said the police representative.
Authorities say 19 children may have died in Uzbekistan last year after taking Dok1 Max cough syrup from Indian company Marion Biotech. In laboratory evaluations of samples from the production facility in the state of Uttar Pradesh, 22 of them were of substandard quality, the Indian drug authority said. The company’s production license was revoked, he said. In January, the World Health Organization (WHO) also issued a product warning for cough syrup.
The Marion Biotech website was recently offline. An archived version of the site says the company’s products are sold in India, Russia and former Soviet republics, Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. India is known as the pharmacy of the world and produces many medicines cheaply, especially for the poorest countries.