Oct. 20 (UPI) — Indonesia has banned sales of all syrup and liquid medication after 99 children died due to acute kidney injuries this year.
The country’s Food and Drug Monitoring Agency said that the suspended medicines were found to contain an ingredient — ethylene glycol — in an amount that “exceeds the safe limit.”
Indonesian health officials said they had reported 200 cases of AKI in children, most of whom were under the age of five, according to the BBC.
“Some syrups that were used by AKI child patients under five were proven to contain ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol that were not supposed to be there, or of very little amount,” Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Indonesia’s Health Minister, said Thursday.
Ethylene glycol, along with diethylene glycol, are typically added as cheap adulterants in propylene glycol, which is used as a solvent in cough syrups. The metabolism of these compounds causes significant liver and kidney damage, according to The Straits Times.
Earlier this month, The World Health Organization issued a global alert over four cough syrups that were linked to the deaths of 66 children in the Gambia.
The organization released the alert for Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup, all made by Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited in Haryana, India.
