Cough Syrup Deaths: Team of Centre & UP Drug Department Inspect Noida Office of Pharma Firm

GG News Bureau

Noida, 29th Dec. The Noida office of a pharmaceutical company, whose cough syrup is reportedly linked to the deaths of 18 children in Uzbekistan, was inspected on Thursday by a team from central authorities and the Uttar Pradesh drug department.

Marion Biotech does not sell the cough syrup ‘Doc-1 Max’ in India, and its only export has been to Uzbekistan, according to a state government official.

The inspection began on Thursday morning at Marion Biotech’s office in Noida Sector 67, according to Gautam Buddh Nagar Drug Inspector Vaibhav Babbar.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) has launched an investigation into the deaths of 18 children in Uzbekistan, which have been linked to Marion Biotech.

The Uzbek health ministry claims that the cough syrup was consumed by the 18 children.

Marion Biotech’s legal representative, Hasan Harris, stated that the governments of both countries are looking into the matter and inquiring.

“There is no problem from our end and no issue in testing. We have been there for the past ten years. Once the government report will come, we will look into it. For now the manufacturing has stopped,” Harris said.

Babbar said on December 27, an inspection was carried out by a team of the Centre in which samples of five medicines were taken for testing.

“A further round of investigation is pending for which we have come here today,” he said.

“The company does not have any domestic market and has only one export market which is Uzbekistan. No product (Doc-1 Max) has been sold in India,” the drug inspector said.

The company is currently operational and they have all mandatory licenses and approvals, including certificate of pharmaceutical product (CoPP) for export which is granted by the Centre, he said.

“Now the investigation underway is to find out from where they procured the raw material and where all it has been used,” he said.

The company has been operational since 2010, he added.

Meanwhile, when checked, the website of Marion Biotech became inaccessible Thursday morning.

“Error establishing a database connection (sic),” read a message on the homepage of marionbiotech.com.