The World Health Organization has issued an alert for four “contaminated” medicines manufactured by an Indian pharmaceutical company that have been “potentially linked” with acute kidney injuries and 66 deaths among children in The Gambia.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “The four medicines are cough and cold syrups produced by Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited in India. WHO is conducting further investigation with the company and regulatory authorities in India,” he said, adding that the loss of young lives due to the products is “beyond heart-breaking for their families”.The four products are Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup. The manufacturer of these products is Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited, Haryana, India, and to date, the stated manufacturer has not provided guarantees to WHO on the safety and quality of these products , WHO said.
\The WHO chief said while the contaminated products have so far only been detected in The Gambia, they may have been distributed to other countries. WHO has recommended all countries detect and remove these products from circulation to prevent further harm to patients. The WHO Medical Product Alert refers to four substandard products, identified in The Gambia and reported to WHO in September 2022.