The authorities suspect that an excessive level of glycol in incriminated drugs would be the cause of these poisoning, but have so far failed to clarify the circumstances which led to this anomaly.
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syrups against fever or cough contaminated with glycol and two of its derivatives are at the origin of nearly 250 cases of acute renal lesions in children in Indonesia since August, having resulted in death at least 141 of them. Glycol, often used as an antifreeze, and also as a solvent in syrups, would have been present in excessive proportions in at least five products manufactured by three different pharmaceutical companies, causing the formation of oxalic acid and calculations in the kidneys.
Most contaminated children are less than 5 years old, but some older people have also been hospitalized. The process has often been rapid: parents explained that they have given their children prescribed syrup by the local dispensary, causing vomiting and difficulties in urinating. Most victims died two to five days after being transported to the emergency room.
This massacre has made the “one” of the newspapers several times. But the anger it provokes and which grows in social networks does not seem to have identified a manager at this stage. The Indonesian government is responsible for the drama to the pharmaceutical industry. The chef of the Medicines Surveillance Agency (BPOM), Penny Lukito, said on Monday October 24 at the end of a meeting with President Joko Widodo “to consider criminal proceedings” against at least two local companies whose products are in cause. Their identity has not been revealed. The police are carrying out investigations. Mr. Widodo called for total care by the government of medical expenses of the families concerned.
“Consumer safety problem”
BPOM is the target of part of the criticisms of worried parents or whose children are sick. But it discusses any responsibility for control: it belongs to the companies, and not to the BPOM, to “verify the concentration of the components present in their products”, reiterated its director on Monday. M lukito has however recognized “that certain parts of the manufacturing chain of drugs which were not the subject of controls must now be”.
In Djakarta, The Organization of Indonesian Consumers (YLKI) considers that these cases of violent poisoning with several titles the law: “First, consumers have the right to know, in particular what inspections were carried out, or Not, and if [the problem is] in terms of production, storage or distribution. Then there is a real problem of consumer security, “explains Mr. Sudaryatmo, one of the executives of the YLKI, at the organization’s headquarters, in the south of the Indonesian capital. As many people born before the 1970s, it only uses one name. According to Mr. Sudaryatmo, the responses of the BPOM are problematic: “We do not even know if there are inspections, nor what they have given in the past, because the reports are not public”, he continues . The YLKI has created a special team to conduct consultations across the country. But she has not yet received a formal complaint. “In Indonesia, the awareness that people of their consumer rights have is not yet very high,” recalls Mr. Sudaryatmo. Another association of legal aid to the victims, called YLBHI, launched an appeal to the families of the victims to organize collective criminal proceedings.
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