Two Maiden Pharma execs jailed for shoddy drugs

The manufacturing unit of Maiden Pharmaceuticals group in Sonipat, Haryana, where the govt halted productions in October. File Pic/AFP

A court has sentenced two pharmaceutical company executives to two-and-half years in jail for exporting substandard drugs to Vietnam a decade ago, months after the WHO linked their cough syrups to the deaths of children in Gambia.

A court in Sonipat, near New Delhi, where Maiden Pharmaceuticals has its main production facility, ordered jail for company founder Naresh Kumar Goel and technical director M K Sharma for exporting heartburn medicine "not of standard quality" to Vietnam.

The two were also fined Rs 1 lakh each for exporting the medicine, Ranitidine Tablets B P (Mantek-150), to Vietnam. The court has given them until March 23 to appeal to a higher court.

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The government suspended production at Maiden Pharmaceuticals in October last year for violations of manufacturing standards after the WHO's report. The company has denied its drugs were at fault for the deaths in Gambia and tests by a government laboratory found there were no toxins in them.

The company had been facing legal difficulties for years over suspected shoddy products.

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