TASHKENT -- The prosecutor in a high-profile case concerning the deaths of 68 children in 2022, which were blamed on an Indian-made cough syrup that contained a toxic substance, is seeking lengthy prison terms for the head of the company that imported the medicine and three former officials.
The prosecutor asked the Tashkent City Court on February 12 to sentence the director of Quramax Medical, the company that imported and distributed the cough syrup in question, to 20 years in prison.
The prosecutor also asked the court to hand 18-year prison terms to three former top officials at Uzbekistan's Scientific Center for the Standardization of Medicines. They were responsible for licensing imported medical substances, including Doc-1 Max cough syrup, made by the Indian pharmaceuticals company Marion Biotech.
The charges against the four and 19 other defendants include tax evasion, the sale of substandard or counterfeit medicines, abuse of office, negligence, forgery, and bribery.
In December 2022, amid reports about the mass deaths of children blamed on Doc-1 Max syrup, Uzbek authorities suspended the sale of all Marion Biotech products.
Uzbekistan’s Health Ministry said at the time that Doc-1 Max syrup contained ethylene glycol, which is an extremely toxic substance.
Criminal probes over the affair have been launched both in Uzbekistan and India.
The Indian regulator has canceled Marion Biotech's manufacturing license and arrested some of its employees.
A legal representative of Marion Biotech said at the time that the company regretted the deaths.
Two months before the Uzbek fatalities, cough and cold syrups made by Indian firm Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd were blamed for the deaths of dozens of children in The Gambia, in West Africa.
A laboratory analysis by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that Maiden Pharmaceuticals' syrups contained "unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol," chemicals often meant for industrial use.