Maiden Pharmaceuticals

Maiden Pharmaceuticals is a drug manufacturer based in Haryana. It started in 1990. In February 2023 it was found guilty of selling substandard drugs. It has been blamed for the deaths of 70 small children in the Gambia who died after taking cough medicine which caused acute kidney injury. The medicine had dangerous levels of diethylene and ethylene glycol. This was said to be because of inadequate quality management. Two of the managers were sentenced to two-and-half years in jail for exporting substandard drugs to Vietnam. It is also linked to the deaths of 20 children in Uzbekistan, also related to cough syrup. This is said to be "the biggest tainted medicine scandal since contaminated cough syrup killed 365 people in Panama in 2006". The World Health Organization has had reports from at least seven countries about contaminated cough syrup since September 2022.