The World Health Organization issued an alert on Monday about substandard India-made cold syrup. This is the
fifth such alert in a year.The alert was for the Cold Out syrup, manufactured by Fourrts (India) Laboratories. Contaminants were found in samples obtained in Iraq, Scroll reported.
Manufacturer and marketer didn't assure product safety, according to the health body.
However, no illnesses in Iraq due to Cold Out was reported.
Deaths due to toxic cough syrups first made headlines in October when the World Health Organization issued a global alert for four such medicines manufactured by the Haryana-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals. This was after the authorities in the West African country of The Gambia linked 66 deaths, most of them due to acute kidney failure, to the four medicines.
In December, the World Health Organization recommended not using two cough syrups made by Indian pharmaceutical firm Marion Biotech after Uzbekistan’s health ministry said that 18 children died after consuming the Dok 1 Max syrup manufactured by the company.
In April, another Indian drugmaker was also found by the World Health Organization to have exported contaminated cough syrup to the Marshall Islands and Micronesia. The manufacturer of the cough syrup was Punjab-based QP Pharmachem Limited and its marketer was Trillium Pharma in Haryana.
Last week, the Centre issued deadlines to drug manufacturers in India to adopt the World Health Organization’s good manufacturing practices.