Cough syrup samples of 54 pharma firms fail export quality test: Data

The data from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) report was based on testing of samples in various states across the country. Out of the 2,014 samples tested in government laboratories in states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Union territory of Chandigarh, 128 (or 6%) failed the quality test and were found to be “not of standard quality” (NSQ), as per the government data.

The government laboratories designated for testing of samples, include Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh); Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL), Kolkata; Central Drug Testing Laboratory (CDTL), Chennai; CDTL, Mumbai; CDTL, Hyderabad; Regional Drugs Testing Laboratory (RDTL), Chandigarh; RDTL, Guwahati; and any NABL-accredited state drugs testing laboratory.

According to the government data, of the 385 samples tested in the Gujarat lab, 51 were found to be NSQ, while 29 out of 502 samples failed the quality test in the Ghaziabad lab.

Earlier, the Union commerce ministry through an order in May this year had made it mandatory for cough syrup manufactures to get their stocks tested at a government lab before shipping for export.

The directive was issued after India-made cough syrups were allegedly linked to deaths of children in some countries. In December last year, Noida-based Marion Biotech’s cough syrup was linked to the death of 18 children in Uzbekistan. On October 5, 2022, World Health Organisation had issued a medical product alert over four cough syrups – Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup – manufactured and exported by Haryana-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals. The UN body had linked Maiden’s syrups to the death of 66 children in The Gambia.