Licensing authority under lens

Tribune News Service

Mukesh Tandon

Sonepat, October 9

Days after the WHO issued alerts for the four cough syrups manufactured by Kundli-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals, the role of the licensing authority has also come under suspicion for issuing licences to the firm despite the questionable track record of the company.

Owned by Naresh Kumar Goel and his son Vivek Goel of Delhi, Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited had started manufacturing medicines in 1990 at HSIIDC, Kundli. They have plants at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh and in Sector 25 of Panipat also.

Sources said the company was reportedly a habitual offender. Gujarat, Bihar and Kerala state governments had also initiated action against the company after its drugs were found spurious or substandard. A case against the company was also pending in a Sonepat court and the next hearing would be on October 28.

Vietnam has banned its products and blacklisted the company, sources said.

From the action initiated by many countries and states against the company, it is evident that either officials have adopted negligence on a large scale or the production of medicines is being kept smooth by collusion.

However, the Central and state regulatory authorities swung into action against Maiden Pharma after the WHO issued alert against four products, promethazine oral solution, kofexmalin baby cough syrup, makoff baby cough syrup and magrip N cold syrup four days ago.

The WHO said to date, Maiden Pharmaceuticals had not provided guarantees to the WHO on the safety and quality of these products.

The Medical Control Agency (MCA), Gambia, has also recalled the contaminated, substandard and falsified medicinal products that were imported from the company.

The MCA asked the company to immediately recall the Maiden products, syrups, tablets, capsules, injections etc and also suspended the importation of the Maiden products temporarily, the notice reads.

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