Punjab drug firm shut after WHO alert, Rajya Sabha told

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, August 1

Operations at four pharma firms, including QP Pharmachem in Punjab and Riemann Labs in Indore, have been shut after the World Health Organization’s started issuing medical alerts in October last in respect of syrups exported from India.

Red-flagged in april

An expectorant manufactured by the Punjab unit was red-flagged by WHO in April this year.

Cough syrups exported by the Indore firm were linked to deaths of at least six children in Cameroon while an expectorant manufactured by the Punjab unit was red-flagged by WHO in April this year. The firm has now been shut, the government told the Rajya Sabha today.

Answering a question related to action taken after several recent global alerts involving Indian drugs, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pawar said four firms had been shut in recent past following WHO alerts on syrups manufactured by them.

In respect of WHO global medical alert dated April 25 on contaminated guaifenesin TG syrup identified in Marshall Islands and Micronesia, Pawar said, “In case of Marshall Islands & Federated States of Micronesia, the Central Drug Standards Control Organization (CDSCO) in coordination with the Punjab Drugs Authority conducted a joint investigation at QP Pharmachem. Drug samples drawn from the manufacturing premises for test and analysis were declared as ‘Not of Standard Quality’. The State Licensing Authority has directed the firm to stop the manufacturing activities with immediate effect.”

Guaifenesin is an expectorant used to relieve chest congestion and the symptoms of cough. WHO had found exported samples from India containing toxins diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol.

In the case of Cameroon, Pawar said, on the basis of findings of a joint inspection by the CDSCO and MP Licensing Authority at Riemann Labs, Indore, the firm had been directed to stop manufacturing.

The government said in the Uzbekistan case (where 18 children allegedly died due to cough syrup contamination) the CDSCO in coordination with the UP Drugs Controller had conducted a joint investigation at Marion Biotech, Noida. “Drug samples were drawn. Manufacturing licence of the firm has been suspended. An FIR was lodged on March 2 and three persons have been arrested,” it said, adding that Sonepat’s Maiden Pharma remains shut too.