Gambia Children Deaths: Maiden Pharmaceuticals Is Repeat Offender In India

The Haryana-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is reported to be a repeat offender and has also lied about being World Health Organization (WHO) -certified on its website. Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd. developed and exported the cough syrup that killed 66 children in the Gambia.

The WHO issued a warning about four Maiden products 24 hours ago because they included ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol. These two substances cause serious liver and kidney damage in humans during metabolism process in body. In order to prevent diethylene glycol from being used as a food additive, the US maintains a strict limit of just 0.2%. Maiden’s cough syrups cross these levels.

Maiden has previously stated on its website that its manufacturing facility in the Kundli area of Haryana has received WHO certification for adhering to "excellent manufacturing procedures" (GMP). On the same page, it also stated that the company's other two plants, located in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, and Panipat, Haryana, were "WHO-GMP compliant."

According to WIRE's report, Maiden has consistently produced poor medication, but allowed to keep running without any action. At least two state governments, Kerala and Gujarat, have issued repeated warnings about the company's illegal actions, according to the extended Licensing, Laboratory, and Legal Node (XLN) database maintained by the Government of India.

Suggested Reading: Probing 4 Indian Cough Syrups After 66 Children Die In Gambia: WHO

Metformin tablets, which are used to treat type-2 diabetes, were taken by health department representatives from a primary health centre in Ernakulam in September 2022 and a taluk headquarters hospital in Palakkad in March 2022. Both batches failed the dissolving test because the medication was unable to adequately dissolve within the allotted time, failing to release the active ingredient into the body.

Maiden Pharmaceuticals responded to allegations concerning the death of 69 Gambian children. Maiden Managing Director Naresh Kumar Goyal told Reuters on Friday, "it will seek clearance to re-open its factory after a government laboratory found nothing wrong in syrup's sample from the World Health Organisation (WHO) that linked to children's deaths in Gambia. I have faith in Indian regulatory and judiciary processes. I have not done anything wrong, trying to reopen the factory. But unsure about when it will happen. We are still waiting."

Gambia Child Deaths

Over 60 children died from kidney damage in West African nation of Gambia. The World Health Organization claimed that Maiden Pharmaceuticals' cough syrups were responsible for the deaths of scores of children in the Gambia, and as a result, India should take cognizance of  it.