The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned Nigerians and healthcare providers about four potentially dangerous Indian pediatric cough syrups that are currently in circulation in the Gambia and could enter Nigeria.
Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup are the four pediatric cough syrups approved by NAFDAC.
According to a NAFDAC statement issued on Sunday, 66 children have died as a result of using the four substandard cough syrups identified by the WHO.
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The Agency also stated that laboratory analysis of the four products’ samples revealed that they contain unacceptable levels of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol as contaminants.
“When diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are consumed, they are toxic to humans and can be fatal.” Abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, inability to pass urine, headache, altered mental state, and acute kidney injury, which can lead to death, are all toxic effects.
“Unfortunately, the manufacturer of these products, Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited, Haryana, India, has not provided guarantees to WHO on the safety and quality of these products.”
NAFDAC, therefore, declared that Nigerians should consider all batches of these products as unsafe and should not be used.
“The substandard products in this alert are unsafe and their use, especially in children, may result in serious injury or death.”
Additionally, it noted that because NAFDAC has not registered the products, they shouldn’t be in use in Nigeria. These four products have so far only been found in The Gambia, but they may have traveled to other nations or regions via unofficial markets.
NAFDAC urged importers, distributors, retailers, and consumers to be cautious and vigilant throughout the supply chain in order to avoid the importation, distribution, sale, and use of substandard pediatric cough syrups.
