DCGI gives several reminders to WHO for more information on deaths in Gambia

The Government of India constituted a four-member committee of experts under the chairmanship of Dr. YK Gupta, Vice-Chairman of the National Standing Committee on Drugs with experts from NIV-Pune, NCDC and CDCSO.

“The technical committee has met several times. Each time the committee has requested specific information from WHO on the details needed to establish causality. Communication was sent to WHO on 15, 20, 29 October. Every time WHO has maintained that they are in touch with their team handling case assessment and will get back at the earliest or their ground partners are working on it. But no information has been exchanged by WHO with CDCSO so far,” Somani said in a letter to WHO seen by Mint.

Somani further said that according to the media, The Gambia has informed that no direct causal link has yet been established between the consumption of cough syrup and the deaths and that the children who died had not consumed the syrup. .

These four medicines are Promethazine Oral Solution BP, Cofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Macoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup, which have been licensed to Maiden Pharma for export purposes only.

The letter from DCGI indicates that the statement issued by WHO led to a narrative to target Indian quality medicines internationally. “This in turn has adversely affected the image of India’s pharmaceutical products across the globe and has caused irreparable damage to the reputation of the supply chain of pharma goods as well as the national regulatory framework.