India allows cough syrup firm linked to Uzbek deaths to re-open factory, shows document

Uttar Pradesh has permitted the resumption of most production at a factory owned by Marion Biotech, which produced cough syrups Uzbekistan linked to the deaths of 65 children last year, an order seen by Reuters shows.

Uttar Pradesh has permitted the resumption of most production at a factory owned by Marion Biotech, which produced cough syrups Uzbekistan linked to the deaths of 65 children last year, an order seen by Reuters shows.

The firm is among three Indian companies whose cough syrups the World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies have linked to the deaths of 141 children in Uzbekistan, Gambia and Cameroon, in one of the world's worst such waves of poisoning.

"There is no known case of a lack of quality in other medicines manufactured by the firm," the drug controller of the State where Marion is based, and which cancelled the firm's licence in March, said in the most recent order.

"The appeal of the manufacturing firm is partially accepted," the official, Shashi Mohan Gupta, said in the September 14 order.

"Its permission to make products using propylene glycol (PG) is cancelled, and it is allowed to make and sell all other products."

Mr. Gupta declined to comment on the letter.

On Wednesday, he told Reuters that India's Controller General of Drugs, Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, had written to Marion Biotech to initiate a plan of corrective and preventive actions by the company.