At least 65 children died from taking medicines produced by the Indian Marion Biotech in Uzbekistan. The indictment against employees of Quramax Medical and the Pharmaceutical Agency says, Gazeta.uz reports.
The media outlet notes that the latest death toll reported by the country’s authorities in January was 20 people. The WHO previously reported that cough syrup has killed more than 300 people in three countries.
At the end of December, the State Security Service of Uzbekistan announced the initiation of a criminal case into the death of children after taking Dok-1 Max syrup and the detention of officials of the importing company Quramax Medical and the Scientific Center for Standardization of Medicines. At the same time, the Agency for the Development of Pharmaceutical Industry of Uzbekistan stopped the sale of all Marion Biotech products, including Cinepar Kid, Travamax and Ambronol. The syrups were found to contain ethylene glycol 300 times higher than the norm stipulated by medical regulations. Instead, the drugs should have contained propylene glycol (a food additive with a bactericidal effect).
The sale of Dok-1 Max was suspended in Kyrgyzstan in December 2022. No adverse reactions to Dok-1 Max were reported to the Department of Medicines and Medical Products of the country.
