Govt labs receive 300 cough syrup samples
NEW DELHI : Government laboratories have received around 300 cough syrup samples for quality testing after the embarrassment of toxic syrups causing deaths abroad. Indian-made cough syrups have been linked to the death of dozens of children in Uzbekistan and Gambia, prompting the government to tighten the export policy for cough syrups.
It is now mandatory to test before supplying to other countries. As of 4 July, Central labs in Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ghaziabad (UP), Chandigarh, Gujarat and Jammu had received samples.
On the other hand, government labs in Karnataka, Kerala, Bhopal, Maharashtra, and Uttarakhand, Hyderabad and Guwahati are yet to receive any. The drug regulator has issued an alert to all manufacturers not to over-burden one particular lab for testing.
India, the largest provider of generic drugs globally, exported cough syrups worth $17.6 billion in 2022-23 as against $17 billion in 2021-22. India’s pharma export body Pharmexcil has over 2,000 manufacturers registered with it, and most are manufacturing cough syrups.
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