CHENNAI, India (Kashmir English): India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu has cancelled the licence of a cough syrup-maker linked to the deaths of several children over the past month.
At least 19 children died in the central state of Madhya Pradesh after taking the syrup.
The syrup was banned after a test this month that showed it contained nearly 500 times the permissible limit of diethylene glycol, a toxic chemical.
The medicine was only distributed domestically but the incident raised quality concerns about India’s pharmaceutical industry.
It is to mention that the country is a major global exporter of medicines. Indian syrups were linked to the deaths of 10 children in Cameroon, Gambia and Uzbekistan in 2023.
“The manufacturing licenses of Sresan Pharmaceuticals have been completely cancelled, and the company has been shut down,” the state government said in a statement.
Pharmacy of the world
The country is known as the ‘pharmacy of the world’, which supplies 40% of generic medicines used in the United States, and more than 90% of all medicines in many African countries.
