Gambia cough syrup scandal: Parents seek justice

A group of parents in The Gambia have begun legal action against the government, an Indian pharmaceutical company and a medicine importer followings the deaths of their children which have been linked to cough syrup manufactured in India.

The 19 parents are seeking about $4.7m (£3.7m) in damages.

A team of lawyers from the Gambia Bar Association and the Female Lawyers Association of The Gambia are representing the parents.

They want the health ministry and the medicines control agency to admit they failed in their duties to regulate the importation, distribution, and sale of medicines in the country.

They are also asking for a declaration that their children did in fact die from the cough syrup and want the importer’s license to be withdrawn.

A parliamentary committee in The Gambia had recommended the prosecution of Maiden Pharmaceuticals but said the children’s cause of death was still being investigated.

The findings of that investigation have been handed to President Adama Barrow but have not yet been made public.

Maiden Pharmaceuticals is quoted as saying that they have valid drug approvals for export and do not sell drugs in the local market.

The government has hired a US firm to look at the possibility of its own legal action.

Meanwhile, the authorities say they will enforce a mandatory inspection and testing of all pharmaceutical products in India before shipment to The Gambia, starting this month.

The World Health Organization has said Indian-made cough syrup was the likely cause of death of the children in The Gambia, an allegation the Indian government has denied.

India produces a third of the world’s medicines and is a large supplier to many African countries.

Source: BBC Africa