India's drugs regulator has banned the use of an anti-cold drug combination in children aged below four and ordered that drugs should be labelled accordingly, in the wake of the deaths of at least 141 children globally linked to cough syrups. The regulator said concerns raised about promotion of an unapproved anti-cold drug formulation in infants prompted a discussion and a resulting recommendation to not use the combination for that age group. The order comes as India draws lessons from a spate of child deaths since 2019 that authorities linked to toxic cough syrups made in the country, including at least 141 deaths in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon since the middle of last year.

Source: bd News24 December 21, 2023 00:43 UTC