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Killer Syrup: India's Deadly Adulteration Battle
8 Feb
Summary
- Tamil Nadu found ethylene glycol in Almond Kit syrup.
- DEG has a history of causing deadly poisonings globally.
- India's FDA was born from a tragedy caused by DEG.
Tamil Nadu's Directorate of Drug Control recently issued a public notice regarding a batch of Almond Kit syrup found to be adulterated with ethylene glycol. This discovery occurred during routine surveillance and follows a tragic incident where over 20 children died in Madhya Pradesh last year due to contaminated cough syrups. These events underscore India's ongoing challenge in combating adulteration to protect patients from preventable fatalities.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) itself has roots in a tragedy involving Di-Ethylene Glycol (DEG). In 1937, a pharmaceutical company used DEG as a solvent for sulfanilamide, leading to over 100 deaths. This led to the U.S. passing the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938, mandating pre-market safety testing and transforming the FDA into a powerful regulatory body.
DEG is an inexpensive industrial solvent with properties that mimic safer alternatives like glycerine. Its low cost makes it an attractive substitute for unscrupulous manufacturers in poorly regulated environments. While DEG has numerous legitimate industrial uses, its presence in medicines is lethal. It metabolizes into toxic acidic compounds that cause acute kidney failure, leading to severe illness and death.
Globally, DEG has been linked to numerous poisoning incidents over nearly a century, from Spain in 1985 to recent deaths in The Gambia, Uzbekistan, and Indonesia in 2022. India has also faced its own encounters with DEG, including a 1986 incident in Mumbai that caused at least 21 deaths. The past few years have seen Indian-manufactured cough syrups linked to child deaths abroad.
The events call for India to replicate the institutional courage shown by the U.S. in establishing strong, reliable institutions like the FDA. Safeguarding public health requires robust regulatory frameworks to prevent tragedies, rather than merely reacting to them. Strengthening these institutions is crucial for India's self-reliance and public well-being.
