Indonesia has stopped selling all syrups and liquid medicines following the death of nearly 100 children and an unexplained increase in cases of acute kidney injury.
The ban, announced by the country’s Health Ministry on Wednesday, will remain in place until authorities complete an investigation into unregistered medical syrups suspected of containing toxic ingredients.
Health Ministry spokesman Mohammad Syahril said 99 deaths and 206 cases of acute kidney injury in children, most of them under the age of 6, were under investigation.
“As a precaution, the ministry has asked health workers at health facilities not to prescribe liquid drugs or syrups temporarily,” he said.
“We also ask that drugstores temporarily halt all sales of over-the-counter liquid medications or syrups until our investigations are complete,” he added.
The ban comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) linked four cough syrups made in India to the deaths of up to 70 children suffering from acute kidney failure in The Gambia, West Africa.
Earlier this month, Indian authorities closed a factory in New Delhi where the drugs were made.
The WHO suspects that four of the syrups made by Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited – Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Infant Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup – contained “unacceptable amounts” of chemicals that could damage the brain, lungs, liver and kidneys of the person who takes them.
Syrups used in The Gambia were not available in Indonesia, according to the Southeast Asian country’s food and medicine agency.
However, on Thursday, Indonesia’s Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol – which are most commonly found in products such as antifreeze, paints, plastics and cosmetics – have been detected in syrups found in homes of some child patients.
“[Os produtos químicos] shouldn’t be there,” Budi said.
He added that the number of cases of acute kidney failure could be higher than reported and his ministry is taking a conservative approach by banning the sale of all syrups.
Source: CNN Brasil
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