Potentially poisonous product found in two Pacific nations
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that a batch of imported cough syrup has been found to be contaminated with toxic diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia. This comes after a series of child deaths linked to similar syrups in various countries last year. The WHO did not specify if any children in the Marshall Islands or Micronesia had fallen ill. The Ministry of Health in the Marshall Islands issued alerts earlier this month and removed the cough syrup from the pharmacies of its two hospitals. QP Pharmachem, the manufacturer, said that the company had permission to export only 18,000 bottles of syrup to Cambodia, and that it was not aware of any complaints from customers in India. Trillium Pharma, the marketer of the cough syrup, did not immediately comment on the matter. Last year, more than 300 children died in Gambia, Indonesia, and Uzbekistan from acute kidney injury associated with contaminated medicines, prompting the WHO to call for immediate action to protect children from contaminated medicines.