Big Pharma - Cough Syrups Laced with antifreeze kill 165 children in Indonesia and the Gambia

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Indonesia bans all syrup medicines after 99 child deaths

By Matt Bernardini

   

Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Indonesia has banned sales of all syrup and liquid medication after 99 children died due to acute kidney injuries this year.

The country's Food and Drug Monitoring Agency said that the suspended medicines were found to contain an ingredient -- ethylene glycol -- in an amount that "exceeds the safe limit."

Ethylene glycol is commonly used to make antifreeze.

Indonesian health officials said they had reported 200 cases of AKI in children, most of whom were under the age of five, according to the BBC.

"Some syrups that were used by AKI child patients under five were proven to contain ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol that were not supposed to be there, or of very little amount," Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Indonesia's Health Minister, said Thursday.

Ethylene glycol, along with diethylene glycol, are typically added as cheap adulterants in propylene glycol, which is used as a solvent in cough syrups. The metabolism of these compounds causes significant liver and kidney damage, according to The Straits Times.

The Gambia

Earlier this month, The World Health Organization issued a global alert over four cough syrups that were linked to the deaths of 66 children in the Gambia.

The organization released the alert for Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup, all made by Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited in Haryana, India.

The WHO said Maiden failed to provide safety guarantees and respond to quality issues surrounding the products.

"Laboratory analysis of samples of each of the four products confirms that they contain unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol as contaminants," the WHO said in a statement.

After the WHO announcement, Maiden was ordered to stop all manufacturing activities.

Indonesian authorities said the cough syrups used in The Gambia were not sold locally.

One epidemiologist said the true death toll could be even higher than reported.

"When cases like these happen, [what we know is] the tip of the iceberg, which means there could be far more victims," Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist from Griffith University told BBC Indonesia.

Indonesian authorities have so far not disclosed the brands or types of syrup medicines linked to sick children - instead just temporarily banning the sale and prescription of all syrup and liquid medicines.