"THE health authorities in Singapore are advising local
manufacturers to be extra vigilant in the wake of reports that 365
people in Panama died after drinking contaminated cough syrup
manufactured in China.
According to a recent report in The New York Times newspaper, a
Chinese company called Taixing Glycerine Factory substituted
glycerine, a safe liquid having medicinal uses, with diethylene
glycol in the production of cough syrup.
Diethylene glycol is an industrial solvent and a principal
ingredient in antifreeze, which is used in petrol and diesel
engines.
The syrup passed from a distributor in Beijing to another in
Barcelona, Spain. The name of the manufacturer was altered during
the translation of the analysis certificate.
The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) here said there have been no
cases detected of diethylene glycol being used in cough syrup
instead of glycerin.
'We have assessed that the risk of such a mix-up or incident
happening in Singapore is very low,' said an HSA spokesman.
'However, we will be advising our local manufacturers to exercise
additional caution when purchasing raw materials, especially
glycerin, for pharmaceutical production.'
Manufacturers in Singapore are required to comply with the Good
Manufacturing Practice standards (GMP) and be licensed by the
respective regulatory authority.
They then test the identity and quality of raw materials before
using them to manufacture finished products.
GMP is a set of standards designed to ensure the quality of
medicinal products.
But banned substances have slipped through before.
In 2002, Slim 10 pills - a China-made slimming product that
contained the banned substance fenfluramine - caused the death of
one woman and forced another to undergo a life-saving liver
transplant.
In 1995, the Ministry of Health banned the sale of three brands of
a Chinese herbal root lingzhi after samples were found to contain
excessive amounts of arsenic or mercury."
(Straits Times 12 May)
Diethylene glycol poisoning can be fatal. Crystals of oxalate
precipitates out of solution and blocks renal tubules in the
kidneys, resulting in acute renal failure. It is odourless and
tasteless, so detection is not easy for the lay person.
