Indian pharma under scrutiny again after 18 Uzbek child deaths

Police at the gate of an office of Marion Biotech, a healthcare and pharmaceutical company and a part of the Emenox Group, whose cough syrup has been linked to the deaths of children in Uzbekistan, in Noida, India [Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters]

India has launched an investigation into the death of 18 children in Uzbekistan after they consumed an Indian-manufactured cough syrup, as one of the world’s biggest drug exporters faces increasing scrutiny over the quality of medicines it produces.

In a statement on Thursday, India’s health ministry said the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) — the country’s drug regulatory authority — was communicating with its counterpart in Uzbekistan over the incident.