Indian-made cold medicine sold in Iraq contains toxic chemicals
A Cold Out bottle. Photo: Bloomberg/Valisure LLC
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Tests showed that an Indian-made cold medication sold in Iraq contained toxic chemicals, the latest in a series of alarming revelations about syrup medicines used by children around the world, according to Bloomberg News.
A Cold Out bottle bought at a pharmacy in Baghdad in March contained 2.1 percent ethylene glycol, according to Valisure LLC, an independent US laboratory, Bloomberg News reported.
Bloomberg’s report explained that the ethylene glycol percentage in the Indian medication is about 21 times the widely accepted limit.
The compound is lethal to humans in small amounts and played a role in mass child deaths caused by Indian-made cough syrups in Gambia and Uzbekistan last year, as mentioned in the report.
Bloomberg mentioned that it shared the test results with the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as Iraqi and Indian officials on July 8.
The report illustrated that the WHO found Valisure’s test results to be acceptable and that it will issue an alert if the Iraqi government confirms the product was sold there.
Bloomberg added that it’s the fifth time in a year that testing has found an Indian exporter’s drugs to contain excessive levels of ethylene glycol.