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    Contaminated cough syrup from India linked to 70 child deaths. It's happened before

    The World Health Organization has issued an alert about the deaths in the West African nation of Gambia. For context, we speak to the authors of The Truth Pill: The Myth of Drug Regulation in India.
    by Kamala Thiagarajan Oct 18, 2022 5 minutes
    Mariama Kuyateh, 30, holds up a picture of her son Musa, whose death from acute kidney failure on Oct. 10 was linked to contaminated cough syrup imported to Gambia, where they live, from India. The World Health Organization issued an alert about the medication.

    After the World Health Organization linked Indian-made cough syrup to acute kidney failure, leading to the deaths of nearly 70 children in West Africa, Indian authorities shut down a factory near Delhi where the medicines were made. But it took them a full week. The plant's manufacturing was suspended only after a joint investigation between the state and federal drug regulating authorities exposed 12 violations.

    WHO's laboratory analysis said the cough syrups contained "unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol," chemicals often meant for industrial use.

    The company has responded by defending its manufacturing process, and India's federal drug regulator has disputed WHO's findings.

    This isn't just a one-time problem. In the past, cough syrups have been linked to other mass poisonings of children in India as well as

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