Someone Duplicated Cough Syrup To Defame Indian Govt: MD Of Punjab-Based Pharma Firm After WHO Issues 'Product Alert'

After WHO's product alert over India-made cough syrup in Marshal Islands and Micronesia, QP Pharma MD Sudhir Pathak has alleged that the syrup was "duplicated" by someone to defame the Indian government.

The global health body has issued a medical product alert after "Substandard (contaminated)" Guaifenesin Syrup TG Syrup in the Marshall Islands and Micronesia.

The "stated manufacturer" of the affected product is QP Pharma Chem in Punjab and the "stated marketer" of the product is Trillium Pharma in Haryana, the WHO said.

Sudhir Pathak, MD of the Punjab-based QP Pharma, stated that the state FDA suspects that the cough syrup product sent to Cambodia was duplicated by someone and sold in the Marshall Islands and Micronesia to tarnish the image of the Indian government.

"Food And Drug Administration (FDA) of Punjab doubt that someone has duplicated the product (cough syrup) sent to Cambodia and then sold it in the Marshall Islands and Micronesia to defame the Government of India," said Sudhir Pathak, MD of the firm based in Dera Bassi, Punjab, reports ANI.

According to Pathak, the FDA department had collected samples of the cough syrup, that were sent to Cambodia.

"The FDA department has taken samples of cough syrup sent to Cambodia for testing. A total of 18,336 bottles of cough syrup were sent," he said.

According to the WHO, samples of the Guaifenesin SRUP TG Syrup from the Marshall Islands were analysed by quality control laboratories of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of Australia.

"The analysis found that the product contained unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol as contaminants," the WHO said.

Diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are toxic to humans when consumed and can prove fatal, it added.

"To date, neither the stated manufacturer nor the marketer have provided guarantees to WHO on the safety and quality of these products," the global health body said.