Cough syrup deaths in Uzbekistan: 3 Noida company staff held, 2 directors booked

NOIDA: The operations head and two chemists at Marion Biotech, the Noida-based pharmaceutical company whose cough syrups were linked by the Uzbekistan government last December to the deaths of 18 children in the central Asian country, were arrested on Friday after samples of drugs tested in India were found to be adulterated.
Apart from the three employees, two directors of the company – Jaya Jain and Sachin Jain – were named in the FIR filed by Noida police. The accused have been booked under sections 274 (adulteration of drugs), 275 (sale of adulterated drugs), 276 (sale of drug as a different drug or medical preparation) of the IPC and sections 17 (misbranded drugs), 17(a) and 17 (b) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
Noida cops said they were acting on a complaint filed by the drugs inspector of the Indian regulator, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), at the Phase 3 police station on Thursday night.

CDSCO drugs inspector for north zone (Ghaziabad) Asheesh Kaundal said in the complaint that 22 samples of the cough syrup, Dok 1 Max, were collected last December and on January 12 this year from the company’s factory in Noida Sector 67 and sent to a laboratory in Chandigarh.
“The test reports of the samples were received and 22 drug samples (were) declared as Not of Standard Quality (adulterated and spurious). As per Sections 17a and 17b of The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, the adulterated and spurious drugs can cause grievous hurt to the public,” reads the FIR. It adds that the accused may have “disposed of” related material/records.
Amit Pratap Singh, ACP-1 (central Noida), said the drugs inspector approached police with findings of the report and the arrests were made on Friday. “Our team reached the factory and arrested three staffers – Tuhin Bhattacharya (head of operations), Atul Rawat (manufacturing chemist) and Mool Singh (analytical chemist) – at the company. These accused were engaged in preparation and sale of drugs that caused serious harm to the public. The two directors of the company are absconding and teams are working to nab them,” said Rajiv Dixit, additional DCP (Central Noida).
Founded in 1999, Marion Biotech, a pharmaceutical manufacturer that exports a range of medicinal, herbal and cosmetics products, came under scrutiny in December 2022 after the Uzbekistan government claimed Dok 1 Max may have led to the deaths of 18 children in the country.
CDSCO launched a probe, and in January, the company’s production licence was suspended. On January 12, the World Health Organization (WHO) also issued a ‘medical product alert’, warning against the consumption of two drugs (AMBRONOL syrup and DOK-1 Max syrup) manufactured by Marion.
Though the FIR in Noida does not specify the contaminants, WHO’s alert referred to the presence of “unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and/or ethylene glycol” found in the syrups by the Uzbekistan authorities.
Diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are toxic solvents, consumption of which can cause abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, headache and other problems that can prove fatal.
Officials at the Noida drugs control department said the medicine batch imported by Uzbek firm Quramax Medical was manufactured in May 2021 with an expiry of April 2024. They had earlier told TOI they are still trying to ascertain the exact location from where the batch of cough syrups was exported.
Dok 1 Max syrup is not sold in the Indian market. According to the Marion Biotech website, the syrup is a combination of paracetamol, guaifenesin and phenylephrine hydrochloride compounds that treat symptoms of cold, flu, cough, fever and other upper respiratory tract issues.