Indian police have arrested the owner of Sresan Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, the cough syrup company linked to the deaths of at least 19 children in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, a senior police officer told Reuters on Thursday.
The children, all under five years of age, died in the past month in the state's Chhindwara city, after consuming cough medicine containing toxic diethylene glycol in quantities nearly 500 times the permissible limit.
The deaths were all linked to Sresan Pharma's Coldrif syrup, which has been banned in several parts of India after a test confirmed the presence of the chemical last Thursday.
SYRUP FACTORY OWNER ARRESTED
S.Ranganathan, owner of the Tamil Nadu state-based company that manufactured the syrup, was arrested on Wednesday in Chennai where he will appear in court before being moved to Chhindwara, the Chhindwara Superintendent of Police Ajay Pandey told Reuters.
Local drug authorities have stepped up efforts to curb the circulation of contaminated medicine, testing random samples of cough syrups and making door-to-door calls to retrieve Coldrif bottles,
"We (have) got 30-40 bottles (through this means)...we (also) recalled some from retailers and stockists," district administrator Harendra Narayan said, adding that 594 bottles of the syrup were sold to pharmaceutical stockists in the region over the last six weeks.
By law, Indian drugmakers must test each batch of raw materials and the final product.
Exports of cough syrup require another layer of tests at government-mandated laboratories since 2023, after the deaths of over 10 children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon were linked to Indian syrups.
The World Health Organization has said the recent case highlights a "regulatory gap" in India’s screening of medicines being sold domestically, and warned that some exports could have been made unofficially.
Indian authorities have asked people to avoid two other locally-sold syrups, Respifresh and RELIFE, made by Gujarat state-based Shape Pharma and Rednex Pharmaceuticals, after tests found they contained the same toxic chemical
Known as the "pharmacy of the world", India is the third-largest drug producer by volume after the U.S. and China.
The country supplies 40% of generic medicines used in the U.S., and more than 90% of all medicines in many African nations.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday in Ankara as both countries explored new pathways for bil...
Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Pakistan have received a significant boost in their fight against the impacts of climate change with the approval...
Ukraine has introduced nationwide restrictions on electricity use, enforcing eight-hour daily limits following severe damage to power infrastructure....
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran is pursuing what he termed a policy of “provincial diplomacy” to promote Iran’s trade ...
Russia launched a wave of drone and missile strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight, prompting nationwide electricity restrictions and ...
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday in Ankara as both countries explored new pathways for bilateral economic relations.
Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Pakistan have received a significant boost in their fight against the impacts of climate change with the approval of a $250 million grant.
The United Nations Security Council is holding open briefings and closed consultations on Sudan following what it called the "dire situation in El Fasher".
Ukraine has introduced nationwide restrictions on electricity use, enforcing eight-hour daily limits following severe damage to power infrastructure.
Nokia announced on Tuesday that chipmaker Nvidia will acquire a $1 billion stake in the company.
The deadliest police operation in Brazil's history killed at least 132 people, officials said on Wednesday, after Rio de Janeiro residents lined a street with dozens of corpses collected overnight, a week ahead of global climate events in the city.
Centrist liberal party D66, led by 38-year-old Rob Jetten, has made sweeping gains in the Dutch election, emerging neck and neck with Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party (PVV) in early results — a stunning reversal just two years after D66 ranked sixth.
Reliable sources have confirmed to AnewZ that the United States has asked Azerbaijan to join a Stabilisation Force in Gaza, as part of a proposed international mission to secure the territory.
U.S. President Donald Trump agreed with President Xi Jinping to trim tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade, Trump said.
A prostate cancer blood test has been shown to reduce the risk of dying from the disease by 13% over two decades, researchers say.
Serious cases of a disorder of the large intestine are surging among Americans younger than 50, researchers say.
Russian President Vladimir Putin asked North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui during talks in the Kremlin on Monday to tell her country's leader Kim Jong Un that everything was "going to plan" in bilateral relations.
U.S. border czar says fentanyl should be considered a WMD.
U.S. states this week warned food aid recipients that their benefits may not be distributed in November if the federal government shutdown stretches into its fourth week.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment