The high-profile trial centred around the shocking death of some seventy Gambian children, from adulterated over-the-counter medicine, resumed at the Banjul High Court on Tuesday, 7th November. It presents a distressing case into the grip of commercially driven maleficence that led to the untimely demise of numerous individuals below the age of five in 2022.
Resurfacing after earlier postponements in July and October, due to the non-attendance of the defendants, the hearing marked a fresh beacon of hope for the bereaved families, grouped as the AKI association. Expectations for a resolution and convictions for the accused is anticipated as the lengthy trial reaches its tail-end.
At the heart of the lawsuit are five defendants – Maiden Pharmaceuticals, local distributor Atlantic Pharmaceuticals, the Medical Control Agency (MCA), the Gambian Ministry of Health, and Attorney General Dawda A. Jallow. They stand accused of being implicit in the senseless loss of life through the dissemination of tainted drugs. The involved families are requesting the culpability of the said groups be recognised, as their children were ingesting contaminated medicines that eventually led to fatal kidney failures.
The firm Maiden Pharmaceuticals, from which the faulty syrups originated, has refuted any responsibility for the tragic event. However, as the saga unfolded, the Governmental health officials in Gambia proposed the presence of E.coli bacteria as a plausible reason for the lethal casualties. This hypothesis was supported later in July when an official taskforce found a correlation between the child fatalities and four imported cough syrups from India, manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceuticals.
The disquieting episode provoked a strong response from the Gambian Government, exploring the legal avenues against the Indian company. Furthermore, a nation-wide recall was initiated in September, covering several cough and cold medications and all products made by the alleged company.
In light of the unearthing evidences, The World Health Organisation (WHO) ran laboratory tests which revealed disconcerting levels of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in the cough syrups. These substances, predominantly used as antifreeze, can lead to lethal consequences if ingested. As a result of these findings, all products developed by Maiden Pharmaceuticals were taken off The Gambia’s market.
This tragedy elicited a reaction on an international scale when India ordered an investigation and closure of the Maiden Pharmaceuticals facility in October of the preceding year. President Barrow of Gambia, too, committed to the establishment of a national laboratory dedicated to testing the quality and safety of medications and food, a facility notably lacking in the African country previously.
As the plaintiffs await the verdict regarding their demand for an admission of MCA’s failure in its crucial role of assuring the standard and security of medicines, they are also claiming an estimated $230,000 per child in damages.
On a broader and more pervasive scale, this incident has shed light on the alarming global menace of non-compliant and falsified medication. Following this incident, the WHO declared a need for ‘immediate and coordinated action’ to abolish such harmful products to prevent any further tragedies, such as the tainted cough syrups believed to have caused the deaths of another 300 children in Uzbekistan, Indonesia, and The Gambia.