Prognosis
Indian-Made Cold Syrup Sent to Iraq Contains Poison, Test Shows
- Sample of Cold Out contaminated with toxic ethylene glycol
- Bloomberg tested 33 Indian syrups bought in six countries
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A cold medication made in India and sold in Iraq is tainted with toxic chemicals, a test commissioned by Bloomberg News shows, the latest in a series of alarming revelations about syrup medicines used by children around the world.
A bottle of Cold Out purchased at a pharmacy in Baghdad in March contains 2.1% ethylene glycol, according to Valisure LLC, an independent US laboratory. That’s about 21 times the widely accepted limit. The compound is lethal to humans in small amounts and played a role in mass child deaths caused by Indian-made cough syrups in Gambia and Uzbekistan last year.