Cough medicine tainted with ethylene glycol that killed at least 19 children in Uzbekistan in late December 2022 has once again revealed lax oversight and regulation of pharmaceutical companies based in India.
That preventable tragedy, which involves products made by Marion Biotech, based in Noida, India, echoes earlier cases. In the summer of 2022, at least 70 children in Gambia died from kidney failure after using cough medicine made by India-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals that contained ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol, toxic chemicals often used in manufacturing as dissolving agents that can damage the heart, brain, and kidneys.
