PHOTO AFP JAKARTA -- Indonesian police said on Monday that a local trader of industrial-grade chemicals sold them as pharmaceutical-grade, leading to their use in medicated syrups that authorities suspect may have caused deaths of more than 200 children across the country.
Authorities said two ingredients, ethylene glycol EG and diethyelene glycol DEG, found in some syrup-based medicines, are linked to acute kidney injury, which many of the children have suffered.
The two ingredients are used in antifreeze, brake fluids and other industrial applications, but also as a cheaper alternative in some pharmaceutical products to glycerine, which is a solvent or thickening agent in many cough syrups. They can be toxic and can lead to acute kidney injury.
Pipit Rismanto, a senior police official, told reporters that CV Samudera Chemical sold industrial-grade EG and DEG as pharmaceutical-grade propylene glycol manufactured by Dow Chemical Thailand and supplied them to distributors of local drug-makers.
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The police arrested and charged officials at Samudera and its distributor CV Anugrah Perdana Gemilang. More suspects may be named as the investigation continues, Pipit said.
After about 300 deaths in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Indonesia linked to cough syrup last year, the president of Dow Indonesia said that they would work with the government, distributors and industry partners to deal with the epidemic and tackling the industry-wide problem with all stakeholders.
Twenty-five Indonesian families of some of the children demanded restitution as a court heard their class-action lawsuit against government agencies and pharmaceutical firms.
Indonesia's drug regulator BPOM said that the spike occurred because several parties exploited a gap in the safety guarantee system and pharmaceutical companies did not properly check the raw ingredients they used.