All manufacturing activities at the Dok1 Max cough syrup’s maker Marion Biotech’s Noida plant have been stopped, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed on Friday. The move comes amid reports of contamination in cough syrup leading to deaths of children in Uzbekistan.
“Following inspection by @CDSCO_INDIA_INF team in view of reports of contamination in cough syrup Dok1 Max, all manufacturing activities of Marion Biotech at NOIDA unit have been stopped yesterday night, while further investigation is ongoing,” Mandaviya informed on Twitter.
The news was also confirmed by the firm’s legal representative that Dok-1 Max manufacturing has been halted “for now”. Earlier on Thursday, the Health Minister had stated that further action will be taken after inspection at the company.
The Dok-1 Max syrup, linked to the Uzbekistan deaths, is not sold by Marion Biotech in India and has only been imported to Uzbekistan. In the inspection, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) team took samples of the syrup from the Noida plant which were sent for testing to Regional Drugs Testing Laboratory (RDTL) in Chandigarh.
Meanwhile the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has asked Uzbek authorities for details of their investigation in the alleged link of the cough syrup to deaths of at least 18 children.
Marion Biotech holds the licence for manufacturing the Dok-1 Max syrup and tablet for export purposes. Its licence was procured by the Drugs Controller, Uttar Pradesh, as per a health ministry statement.
"There is no problem from our end and no issue in testing. We have been there for the past 10 years. Once the government report will come, we will look into it. For now the manufacturing has stopped," Hasan Harris, legal representative of the Noida-based Marion Biotech was quoted as saying.
The Uzbekistan claims come months after reports of deaths of 70 children in African country Gambia linked to cough syrups made by Haryana-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals.
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