WHO Says India-Made Cough Syrups May Be Linked To 66 Deaths In Gambia: Report

The dozens of kids' death in Gambia due to kidney injuries may have links to contaminated cough and cold syrups made by an Indian drug manufacturer.
In July, medical officers in Gambia raised the alarm after several cases of acute kidney injury among children under five were detected, three to five days after taking a locally-sold paracetamol syrup, Reuters reported.
By August, 28 had died, but health authorities said the toll would likely rise. Now 66 are dead.
The report cited World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying that the U.N. agency is investigating along with Indian regulators and the company Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
The alert covers four products - Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup.
The health agency also issued a medical product alert asking regulators to remove Maiden Pharma goods from the market, the report noted.
The products may have been distributed elsewhere through informal markets but had so far only been identified in the Gambia, the WHO said in its alert.
The WHO said that lab analysis confirmed "unacceptable" amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, which can be toxic when consumed.